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| Canaveral National Seashore, deserted on a mid-summer afternoon looking north toward New Smyrna Beach |
Florida's brutal heat wave is forecast to continue at least through another week. Daytime temperatures in the interior have been peaking around 100° F (38° C) with humidities above 50% making it feel more like 110° or more. In this extreme heat it becomes difficult to conduct outdoor activities.
The heat wave is expected to break, sort of, around the end of next week, July 13 or 14 when daytime temperatures are forecast to only reach 95° and there is finally a chance of some rain. July has been painfully humid and dry across most of Florida.
Deep layer moisture should be plentiful with mean relative humidity values between 60 and 70% and even deeper layer moisture lurking off of each coast of Florida. All of these changes will make it feel quite sultry but might also make for clouds and some much-needed rain, which would bring welcome relief to Floridians. Meanwhile it is more of the same with temperatures in the interior at or just above 100° every afternoon.
At 3:00 am on July 8th the temperature is still a sultry 84° (29°C) with a dewpoint of 73° making the heat index 90° F (32° C).
Unfortunately temperatures across the southeast and indeed most of the country east of the Rocky Mountains are forecast to be much above "normal" for the foreseeable future. Whatever that means? Anything lower than 90° across Florida would likely feel like a winter cool wave.
The heat wave is expected to break, sort of, around the end of next week, July 13 or 14 when daytime temperatures are forecast to only reach 95° and there is finally a chance of some rain. July has been painfully humid and dry across most of Florida.
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| How hot is it? So hot that even little anole lizard newborns are seeking a relief from the heat by finding their way toward air conditioning. |
At 3:00 am on July 8th the temperature is still a sultry 84° (29°C) with a dewpoint of 73° making the heat index 90° F (32° C).
Sequestration and Deserted Florida Beaches
So why is this spectacular beach so deserted in the afternoon on a perfect summer day? Mainly due to Congressional Republicans and Sequestration reducing the National Park Service's budget. No money to pay Park Rangers.
Budget sequestration is a procedure in United States law that limits the size of the federal budget. Sequestration involves setting a hard cap on the amount of government spending without regard to the type of spending budgeted.
Sequestration has caused the National Park Service to dictate that beaches be opened late in the mornings and closed early in the evenings. That means everyone has to vacate miles of beach by 6:00 pm at the very latest despite the fact that it doesn't get dark in summer until nearly 9:00 pm. There is no money budgeted for park rangers to patrol beaches due to sequestration.
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| Cocoa Beach Pier, July 5, 2016 |
Florida's heat wave is being caused by persistent areas of high pressure (ridges). During recent years the low level ridge axis has been centered near Florida's Lake Okeechobee while the mid-level ridge extends across the southeastern USA, north of Florida. This week the ridges are vertically aligned across the Florida peninsula roughly from Vero Beach to Sarasota. Underneath the ridge of high pressure creates descending, hot air that is relatively stable (few clouds and storms).
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| A Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) hangs around picking through sargassum on a recent afternoon at Cocoa Beach. This gull is a non-breeding adult as he has lost his mating plumage (black head and red bill). |
Hopefully these areas of high pressure will begin to erode allowing for cooling rains to return to Florida. At Cocoa Beach on a recent afternoon it was so hot and steamy that I found it difficult to breathe except when I was in the water, which is filled with sargassum being blown in by the persistent easterly flow around the areas of high pressure.
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| A few of our redbays have survived through multiple attacks and infestations. The tree is a special part of the Florida landscape, and one of my favorite forest species. The underside of the leaves are rust colored and they smell of bay spice, especially on very hot days. |
Laurel Wilt and the Extinction
of Florida's Redbay Trees
(Persea bornonia)
of Florida's Redbay Trees
(Persea bornonia)
Florida's redbay trees (Persea bornonia) are being driven to extinction by an exotic fungus that is moved from tree to tree by a small alien beetle. Both organisms are native to Asia and were brought to the southern United State in some type of wood material.
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| About the size of a grain of rice, the redbay ambrosia beetle (Xyleborus glabratus) on a dime for scale. |
In 2002 the exotic wood-boring beetle, the redbay ambrosia beetle (Xyleborus glabratus) and its fungal symbiont (Raffaela lauricola) were first detected in the southeastern USA. At first the appearance of the beetle did not cause significant alarm because in Southeast Asia the beetle was not known to cause significant tree mortality.
It was a surprise to scientists when it was discovered that R. lauricola caused laurel wilt and that it was rapidly killing all of the South's redbay trees.
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| A recently deceased redbay in our woods. |
In only ten years, it is estimated that laurel wilt has killed more than a million trees in the Lauraceae plant family in the southeastern USA. Mortality rates are between 92% and 100% in larger redbay trees.
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| Estimated timeline for infestation of all redbays in the USA. By 2045 there will likely be no redbay, sassafras, or avocado trees remaining in the USA |
Palamedes Swallowtails
in Danger of Extinction Due to Redbay Mortaility
The loss of these redbay trees is a tragedy in itself and accelerates an already alarming reduction in biodiversity being observed globally. Pressure is put on species that use these trees for food, nesting sites, nectar, or other survival needs.
One example is the Palamedes swallowtail (Papilio palamedes), a butterfly that depends on redbay and sassafras leaves as a larval food source. The loss of the trees means that the butterfly is also in danger of extinction.
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| Palamedes swallowtail mating pair near (Papilio palamedes) zinnia |
One example is the Palamedes swallowtail (Papilio palamedes), a butterfly that depends on redbay and sassafras leaves as a larval food source. The loss of the trees means that the butterfly is also in danger of extinction.
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| Palamedes swallowtail on Mexican sunflower |
Avocado trees (Persea americana) are also susceptible to laurel wilt and as the beetles have run out of redbays on which to feed they have moved to Florida's avocado groves. The disease is moving thirty-to-fifty miles a day through wild laurel trees.
More on this story
Drones and Dogs Battle Beetle to Save GuacamoleA tiny beetle is threatening America's supply of guacamole not to mention Florida's $100 million avocado industry.
Disease-carrying Beetle Kills Thousands of Trees in Tampa Area
Smaller than a grain of rice, the redbay ambrosia beetle is causing big trouble for Florida's redbay and swamp bay trees.
An Exceptionally Damaging Exotic Disease Threatens Florida's Forests
Laurel wilt explained.
Florida Department of Agriculture Laurel Wilt Page
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| A Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) kept us company on a recent afternoon at the beach. |
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