In the middle of hurricane season, most people dread hearing of an oncoming storm, but Kelly Kibler, an associate professor of water resources engineering at UCF, says storms actually benefit people. our state in some respects.
Kibler spoke to News 6 anchors Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden on Florida’s Fourth Estate podcast about the positive impacts.
“A hurricane represents a climatic extreme and things happen in extreme situations that don’t happen in normal weather,” Kibler said.
Kibler explained that while hurricanes seem scary to humans, many ecosystems need them.
“From the perspective of our aquatic ecosystems, this is something that needs to happen for them to continue functioning,” Kibler said.
Kibler says some animals, including the Florida Scrub Jay, need hurricanes.
“It’s Florida’s only endemic bird species, so it’s like the only Florida bird that’s only here, it’s from Florida and it wouldn’t be here if not for disturbances like hurricanes or wildfires. “, said Kibler.
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If our ecosystem went undisturbed for a very long time, it wouldn’t be suitable for this bird and it would be supplanted by other species, Kibler explained.
Kibler said our natural landscape also helps prevent erosion and protect our drinking water, and hurricanes play an important role in that.
“Some of these natural features that can function as infrastructure, like we have wetlands, we have oyster reefs, we have mangrove forests, we have seagrass beds, all of those things need regular disturbances that come in the form of storms to be maintained the same way someone should go out and maintain that dike.The regular storms are kind of our maintenance crew that goes out and maintains our barrier islands, our dunes, our forests of mangroves,” Kibler said.
Fast moving water from storms also brings sand and dirt to the mangrove forests that otherwise wouldn’t be there, supporting the life of the mangrove forest. Kibler says it’s like nature’s sandbags.
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“Over time, when we get enough of these storms, they can actually help raise the level of mangrove wetlands, raise the shoreline and maybe even keep pace with changing conditions. such as sea level rise,” Kibler said.
She agrees that a lot of erosion also happens during hurricanes, but says a lot can be done to combat this problem as well.
Kibler made a pretty compelling case about the benefits of hurricanes, however, Matt says he still hates them.
Florida’s Fourth Estate examines everything from swampy politics to a fragile environment and even the crazy headlines that make Florida the craziest state in the Union.
ginger ginger and Matt Austin using decades of experience as journalists to dissect the headlines that impact Florida. Each week they have a guest host who helps provide an irreverent look at the issues affecting the Sunshine State. Big influencers, like attorney John Morgan, renowned Florida journalists, and scientists protecting Florida’s ecosystem, can often be found as guests.
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Look for new episodes every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts.
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