The Everglades are in Southern Florida in the United States. The peninsula of Florida, low lying and with a climate ranging from warm temperate to subtropical, stretches out from the American mainland towards Cuba. In the, south of Florida lies the state’s biggest stretch of inland water, Lake Okeechobee. Spreading south from this is the huge wet prairie called the Everglades which, after 100 miles, gives way to the mangrove forests fringing the peninsula’s broad tip.
The Everglades have a slope to the south of only two inches to the mile and, along the eastern side of the great prairie; there is a river with an almost imperceptible flow. This river, which is only a few inches deep and 50 miles Wide, moves slowly towards the south. Along the west side tall cypresses, hundreds of years old stand in the Big Cypress Swamp. The whole area is waterlogged, for beneath the peat beds there is a porous rock which soaks up water like a sponge. All this freshwater-soaked land keeps back the salt water of the Atlantic Ocean, and the excess of water flows into the sea,
Grasses grow in the shallow, slow-moving river. Tall cypress trees flourish in the swamps. The area is rich in vegetation and wild life, a primitive world, thousands of years old, continues into the present and the Americans sought to preserve this by creating the Everglades National Park. But in spite of these efforts, civilization is destroying’ this Primitive world. Agricultural land is being reclaimed by draining the swamps. Water is being taken from Lake Okeechobee and diverted from the river to quench the thirst of the Atlantic seaboard cities of Palm Beach and Miami. On the surface, the peaty soil dries out and becomes easily ignited tinder. Carelessly thrown cigarette ends create hundreds of fires.
As the swamps dry out and become barren, Nature’s balance is destroyed and the wild life is threatened with extinction. The Everglades may well be doomed.
Picture credit: google