images

South Florida seen from space in October 1992

by

Nasa/Novapix

Reference

t-naflo-00009

Date

2011-12-03

This synoptic, southeast-looking photograph portrays several manmade and natural features—Charlotte Bay (lower left); large, dark Lake Okeechobee, south and southwest of which are large sugarcane fields; the densely populated Miami Gold Coast; shallow Florida Bay; and the southwest-arcing Florida Keys. Extending from the sugarcane fields south of Lake Okeechobee to the southern tip of mainland Florida are The Everglades, an area of extensive swamp, saw grass, and hardwood hammocks. Known as a great “river of grass,” The Everglades are an environmentally sensitive region with a delicate balance of water resource usage; many dams and canals constructed south of Lake Okeechobee have altered the natural water flow to the south and southwest.