H₂O Zone

This month's Zone tips its hat to Florida's volunteers - the people who turn up before dawn to watch for turtles, and the ones threading oyster shells onto string to save a stretch of coastline. We're also looking at what happens when you let nature do the heavy lifting, whether that's an eelgrass meadow doing double duty as an oxygen factory, or a fleet of specially bred 'super clams' dropped into a lagoon like tiny water filtration units. Partway through, we take a quick detour closer to home, with a look at what it takes to irrigate a landscape responsibly without wasting a drop.

Florida is a place that has always attracted visitors - some welcome, some decidedly less so. This month we're looking at two invasive species making themselves at home in the Sunshine State and the creative ways people are responding to them - one involving fine jewellery, another with potential applications in the food industry. We're also celebrating a Florida-only moth that refused to go extinct, marvelling at a town that generates more power than it needs, and watching on as the water cops come out after dark.

This month, we turn our attention to something very much of the moment: the water situation across Florida and beyond. With a historic drought gripping 45 of the 50 US states and Phase III restrictions now in force across much of Florida, the pressure on water resources has rarely felt more immediate. Hoover share their perspective on what this means for irrigation management in the state - and we close, on a genuinely encouraging note, with the long recovery of Lake Apopka, once the most polluted lake in Florida. It's proof, if any were needed, that it's never too late to start making things better.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by Florida’s environmental headlines, but in this latest edition, we’re leaning into optimism. We’ve got stories of genuine scientific "cleverness" - think water-filtering oyster armies and seaweed being turned into actual products.

The H2O Zone has always cast a wide net when it comes to environmental stories, but this month we've pulled it in a little closer to home. Every story we've chosen has one thing in common: water. 

This month's H2O Zone demonstrates that a new year doesn't necessarily mean leaving old problems behind. From water conservation wins to the ongoing coral reef challenge, the stories we've chosen highlight both innovation and obstacles in Florida's environmental landscape.

Rounding up 2025 and heading into 2026, we're spending a lot of our time under the waves in this edition of the H2O Zone. A number of stories deal with efforts to maintain, improve or simply better understand the ocean that surrounds us here in Florida. Two of the stories revolve around reefs, one entirely artificial, and the other an attempt to plant 'trees' encouraging coral to grow.

A varied selection of stories highlighted in the H₂0 Zone for this edition, ranging from just about the worst possible prognosis on the future of the coral reefs that play a vital role in the ocean around us, to a positive and bright pink confirmation of just how successful the restoration of the Everglades has been. 

This month’s edition finds balance between environmental challenges and innovative solutions across Florida's waters. And we cover the great success story of baby crocodiles thriving in an unexpected habitat.

This month’s H2O Zone is very much a watery tale, featuring a selection of stories dealing with our use and misuse of one of earth's most important natural assets. From more accessible data to help everyone understand how we are managing water, to research into wastewater treatment that will reduce the pressure on the Florida aquifer.

In this edition of the H2O Zone there is a strong emphasis on the work scientists are doing in order to tackle the effects of our changing climate and weather patterns. There are stories about seeds being blasted into space, soil being made stronger on a microscopic level and plastics created from sustainable sources. 

This month's H2O Zone brings a diverse set of stories, focusing on both land and sea. We dive below Florida's ocean waves, consider the challenges faced by the state's fruit farmers - and give due praise to a groundbreaking achievement at a Florida botanic garden.