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4 weeks ago | 
tampabay.com | Shreya Vuttaluru |Jack Prator
Since the turn of the century, major hurricanes hitting the U.S. have had one key feature in common. Location. The Gulf of Mexico coastline transformed into a bullseye for major storms, which have taken aim from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Marco Island and destroyed communities in their wake. Eighteen hurricanes reaching Category 3 strength or higher have made landfall along the continental U.S. since 1999. All but one slammed into the Gulf Coast.
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2 months ago | 
news.wgcu.org | Zachary Sampson |Shreya Vuttaluru |Bethany Barnes
Editor’s note — about this story: This story is part of the Pulitzer Center's nationwide Connected Coastlines reporting initiative. For more information, go to pulitzercenter.org/connected-coastlines. This story was originally published by the Tampa Bay Times and shared in partnership with the Florida Climate Reporting Network, a multi-newsroom initiative founded by the Miami Herald, the Sun-Sentinel, The Palm Beach Post, the Orlando Sentinel, WLRN Public Media, and the Tampa Bay Times.
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2 months ago | 
tampabay.com | Zachary Sampson |Bethany Barnes |Shreya Vuttaluru
After hundreds of manatees starved in the Indian River Lagoon, the Tampa Bay Times decided to trace the crisis to its roots. That meant examining water quality across Florida. Manatees’ main food source — seagrass — was wiped out following decades of pollution in the Lagoon. Miles of once-lush seagrass beds transformed into underwater deserts. Manatees washed up dead and emaciated.
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2 months ago | 
yahoo.com | Zachary Sampson |Bethany Barnes |Shreya Vuttaluru
After hundreds of manatees starved in the Indian River Lagoon, the Tampa Bay Times decided to trace the crisis to its roots. That meant examining water quality across Florida. Manatees’ main food source — seagrass — was wiped out following decades of pollution in the Lagoon. Miles of once-lush seagrass beds transformed into underwater deserts. Manatees washed up dead and emaciated.
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2 months ago | 
tampabay.com | Shreya Vuttaluru |Zachary Sampson |Bethany Barnes
The Tampa Bay Times spent more than a year examining water quality across Florida. Nearly 1 in 4 waterways are contaminated by high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, or other issues that point to imbalances of the chemicals, the Times found. The pollutants fuel devastating algae blooms that kill seagrass that manatees and many other animals rely on to survive. Related: Rampant pollution caused manatees to starve. Florida waters are getting worse.
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2 months ago | 
orlandosentinel.com | Zachary Sampson |Shreya Vuttaluru |Bethany Barnes
Perched on a spit of land, two biologists peered into slate blue water. Below them, manatees floated like clouds, raising whiskery snouts to let out long, loud breaths. The Indian River Lagoon looked like an ideal symbol of Florida. But by that afternoon in late January 2021, the scientists knew they stood at the edge of catastrophe. For decades, the beloved animals had survived winter by retreating to this pocket of the Lagoon near Cocoa, where discharges from a power plant kept them warm.
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2 months ago | 
sun-sentinel.com | Zachary Sampson |Shreya Vuttaluru |Bethany Barnes
Perched on a spit of land, two biologists peered into slate blue water. Below them, manatees floated like clouds, raising whiskery snouts to let out long, loud breaths. The Indian River Lagoon looked like an ideal symbol of Florida. But by that afternoon in late January 2021, the scientists knew they stood at the edge of catastrophe. For decades, the beloved animals had survived winter by retreating to this pocket of the Lagoon near Cocoa, where discharges from a power plant kept them warm.
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2 months ago | 
flipboard.com | Zachary Sampson |Bethany Barnes |Shreya Vuttaluru
18 hours agoA third of Americans still breathe unhealthy air after decades of improvements—which the Trump administration wants to roll back. These particles can also cross the placenta, where they can reduce an infant’s lung function before birth. A pre-polluted baby is also more likely to arrive prematurely, …
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2 months ago | 
tampabay.com | Zachary Sampson |Bethany Barnes |Shreya Vuttaluru
Federal lawmakers are calling for Florida leaders to take swift action to control water pollution after a Tampa Bay Times investigation revealed that a mass die-off of starving manatees in the Indian River Lagoon was the result of a broader crisis. “Clean water is essential to our way of life; manatees are the canary in the coal mine to larger health problems,” U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, a Fort Pierce Republican whose district includes the southern Lagoon, said in a statement.
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2 months ago | 
tampabay.com | Zachary Sampson |Shreya Vuttaluru |Bethany Barnes
Perched on a spit of land, two biologists peered into slate blue water. Below them, manatees floated like clouds, raising whiskery snouts to let out long, loud breaths. The Indian River Lagoon looked like an ideal symbol of Florida. But by that afternoon in late January 2021, the scientists knew they stood at the edge of catastrophe. For decades, the beloved animals had survived winter by retreating to this pocket of the Lagoon near Cocoa, where discharges from a power plant kept them warm.
