Environment

Sarasota Ballet commemorates the 250th anniversary of the United States this weekend with “Stars and Stripes,” a ballet frequently performed at national events, including presidential inaugurations. Also on program is “’Still Life’ at the Penguin Café,” a cautionary tale about our seeming indifference to the survival of our environment.

Massive piles of sargassum, the size of which have not been seen before, are floating this way, right now, sure to coat the beaches of Florida’s East Coast, the Keys, and various Caribbean islands

Every year, VoLo Foundation’s Climate Correction Conference gets somewhat glitzier, its speakers a bit more prestigious, the event a little better attended. One day of main events has become three. Longer presentations have been tightened to fit everyone onto the schedule. More chairs and more tables are brought out because the conference has grown from 200 people last year to 250 this year. The theme this year centered around the notion that the environment has already engineered answers to the climate challenges facing the planet.

Climate Correction Conference has grown from a small gathering of academics, researchers, and nonprofit leaders to become a two-day event addressing causes and solutions to slow down, if not reverse, global warming and its effects

An attempt to rescue a nine-and-a-half-foot-long stranded pilot whale calf along the beaches of Pelican Bay on Monday was not successful and plans have been made to euthanize the aquatic mammal.

NOAA, the USDA, and the National Drought Mitigation Center mentioned the Fort Myers region twice. Once to extend the current year-long drought in greater Lee County and to increase from severe to extreme.

On the same week that federal climate forecasters said the drought in the greater Fort Myers area had worsened and will not be going away soon, Lee officials issued guidelines for county residents to weather the weather until it returns to normal.

The carcass of an eagle was recovered a little more than a mile from the North Fort Myers nest on Friday morning. There's no information yet from authorities if the dead raptor found was the missing female eagle F23.

A program with the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, the sea school offers its wildlife education in many ways: to school groups, in camps, in a family setting, and either on a public part of the beach or at the resort where vacationers are staying

An active brushfire in 2,600 acres of the Big Cypress National Preserve in Hendry County is 95 percent contained today.