In a new report released today, Ocean Conservancy has identified the nine most urgent threats facing Florida’s coasts and oceans, including harmful algal blooms, sea level rise, and pollution. The report outlines what’s at stake for the state and its communities, and how we can collectively confront these threats.

“We can’t address each of Florida’s environmental issues in a vacuum. For Florida’s ocean and coasts, this is an all-hands-on-deck moment,” said Jeff Watters, Director of Government Relations at Ocean Conservancy. “This is going to require action on all levels – from individual citizens to powerful policy makers in Tallahassee and Washington D.C.. But here’s the good news: if we work together, there’s a lot that we can do to tackle these problems.”

The “nasty nine” biggest threats to Florida’s coasts identified in the report:

1. Harmful Algal Blooms
2. Water Quality & Quantity
3. Ocean Acidification
4. Coral Disease & Bleaching
5. Oil & Gas Drilling and Pollution
6. Ocean Trash
7. Coastal Development
8. Sea Level Rise & Flooding
9. Extreme Weather

An accelerator fueling several of the “nasty nine” is a well-known culprit: Climate change. Carbon pollution has caused our global climate to warm more rapidly, driving and exacerbating environmental disasters that put coastal communities in danger.

The report also lays out the solutions to these threats, showing how Floridians across the state can join together and take action for our ocean.

Click here to view the report.