2020 Essay Winner Grade 6

By Jose E., 6th Grade, Southside Preparatory Academy

The Everglades are flawless pulchritude natural land with natural wildlife. It has several unique features that animals and humans rely on. Why drain and make developments to the Everglades region? According to https://www.nps.gov/subjects/southfloridacollections/drain-the-swamp.htm, Some people believe that the natural parks take up too much land and wanted to develop land for mining and oil drilling. Some also viewed as having no value, could be repurposed and turned into profitable farmland. Think about the importance of these natural lands, should we destroy it? Should we preserve it? In my perspective, the land should be left alone and should be preserved and be left undisturbed.

People must realize the importance of the Everglades and its benefits. According to evergladessafaripark.com, in the subtitle "Why Should I Care About the Everglades", the Everglades is a subtropical wetland with significant biodiversity importance due to the wide variety of purposes of the ecosystems in the wetlands that provide the habitat for wildlife, plants, and other organisms. What will be the negative impacts of the loss of the Everglades? According to sites.google.com, under the heading "Everglades Destruction", the Everglades is greatly impacted from pollution, water loss, loss of habitats and loss of wildlife. At least " 1.7 million acres have been drained which is almost half of the Everglades". Additionally, if Everglades keep disappearing, surrounding environments would negatively be affected.

Climate change has changed everything, like the rising sea level, stronger storms, and more. This is a concern for many people because Everglades is in a sense of danger from sea-level rise and saving Everglades means a lot to people. Everglades is where freshwater comes from, which we get from to drink. Everglades will soon be affected by the sea-level rise. According to We need to save the Everglades quickly because it helps protect South Florida’s drinking water and can limit hurricane damage, "if rising seas turn more of the freshwater in the Everglades will become salty, then the water seeping into aquifers threatens to foul our drinking water wells. Recall that the Everglades is already drained half of the Everglades to make room for crops and development. As a result, it is making it worse because nearby houses could be affected by the flood and rising sea level. If we do not do more halt rising seas, the Everglades could wash away, a self-inflicted wound from which South Florida cannot recover".

Losing the Everglades would be a very challenging for many people in coastal areas. People have to deal with flooding, storm surges, and other natural disasters. According to We need to save the Everglades quickly because it helps protect South Florida’s drinking water and can limit hurricane damage, Everglades National park's Cape Sable area, sea level is going up faster than it has in the past. "We are losing ground, literally, to the effects of sea-level rise" Robert Johnson, director of the South Florida Natural Resources said about sea-level rise in Everglades National Park. Without the Everglades to play hurricane defense for us, the storm surge flooding may cause many damages including erosion and deposition, which cause the decrease of lands. However, it is important for people to build homes in this fertile land, but the Everglades is more vital to our environment. Additionally, it requires reworking Everglades restoration projects to help faster sea-level rise provoked by warming atmosphere.

So why should you care about the Everglades and preserve it? It is one of the largest remaining subtropical habitats in the North America that is being diminished by human consumption. To address environmental concerns the "federal government" has initiated the Everglades Restoration Plan in an effort to restore the ecosystem back into balance. Although people want to drain and make development to the Everglades, they must realize the importance of the Everglades and how vital it is. Additionally, although the Everglades was reduced in size during the early part of the 20^the century to allow settlers to build homes and harvest crops, a lot effort has been put forth to try and protect the remaining wetlands.