Tag Archives: florida

UF Pine lsland Pollen Study Leads to Revision of State’s Ancient Geography

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A new University of Florida study of 45-million-year-old pollen from Pine Island west of Fort Myers has led to a new understanding of the state’s geologic history, showing Florida could be 10 million to 15 million years older than previously believed.

The discovery of land in Florida during the early Eocene opens the possibility for researchers to explore the existence of land animals at that time, including their adaptation, evolution and dispersal until the present. (more…)

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Psychological Effects of BP Oil Spill Go Beyond Residents of Impacted Shorelines

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The psychological effects of the BP oil spill, the largest recorded environmental disaster in human history, extend far beyond people living around the areas of the Gulf of Mexico that were directly impacted by the spill, a new study finds.

Writing in the online edition of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, a publication of the National Institutes of Health, the researchers reported that even in areas that did not have oil exposure, people still experienced elevated levels of anxiety and depression and reduced ability to show resilience in difficult emotional and financial situations because of the disaster. (more…)

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Shark Attacks Increase Worldwide; Florida Continues Four-year Decline

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The number of reported shark attacks last year increased worldwide but declined in Florida, according to the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File annual report released today.

Ichthyologist George Burgess, director of the file housed at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus, said Florida typically has the highest number of attacks worldwide, but 2010 marked the state’s fourth straight year of decline. Florida led the U.S. with 13 reported attacks, but the total was significantly lower than the yearly average of 23 over the past decade. (more…)

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The Long-Term Fate of the Oil Spill in the Atlantic

Honolulu, HI – The possible spread of the oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon rig over the course of one year was studied in a series of computer simulations by a team of researchers from the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

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State of Florida Leverages Microsoft Cloud Solution for Census Count

*Built on Windows Azure, MyFloridaCensus.gov helps Floridians identify homes, neighborhoods and communities for 2010 census.*

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida House of Representatives is making one final push over the next month for its state residents to be counted in the 2010 Census, through its MyFloridaCensus (https://www.myfloridacensus.gov) website and Web-based application.

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