Risk in Daily Newspaper Coverage of Red Tide Blooms in Southwest Florida

Li, Zongchao; Garrison, Bruce; Ullmann, Steven G.; Kirkpatrick, Barbara; Fleming, Lora E.; Hoagland, Porter

doi:10.1080/1533015x.2015.1067579

Cited by 8 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Media coverage of Red Tide has centered on risk, including environmental, tourism, and public health risks (Li et al, 2015). A direct relationship between increased media exposure and decreased touristic activities occurred during Red Tide events (Morgan, Larkin, & Adams, 2011).…”

Section: Situational Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk perception, media exposure, and visitor’s behavior responses to Florida Red Tide

Cahyanto

Liu-Lastres

2020

Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing

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Florida's Red Tide outbreak, a major environmental disturbance in 2018, not only garnered nationwide attention but also affected both in-state and out-of-state visitors. Guided by the Social Amplification of Risk Framework (SARF), this study examined the relationships between media exposure, risk perception, and visitors' behavioral responses. Data were gathered from two surveys in late 2018. The findings validate the practicality of applying SARF to the current context. This study also found that both perceived consequences and access to the community are significant predictors of visitor behavior. This study further discussed how to market destinations during turbulent times.

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Section: Situational Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk perception, media exposure, and visitor’s behavior responses to Florida Red Tide

Cahyanto

Liu-Lastres

2020

Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing

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“…This can be a significant risk for sectors such as Florida's tourism industry, which relies upon images of pristine beaches to draw people globally and are heavily impacted by public perception (Kuhar et al, 2009;Cahyanto and Liu-Lastres, 2020). This social amplification of risk, which may potentially be intensified by the media (Li et al, 2015), is an extensive problem with Florida red tide specifically (Hoagland et al, 2020).…”

Section: Hab Associated Risksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies on media exposure, risk perceptions and visitor behavioral responses (e.g., Cahyanto and Liu-Lastres, 2020) has underscored the need for effective outreach to visitors and residents alike regarding risks associated with HABs in Florida. Indeed, knowledge of Florida red tide was found to be widely inconsistent and incorrect (Nierenberg et al, 2010) with the media framing red tide as a largely environmental issue (Li et al, 2015). Advances in knowledge of HAB human health impacts and mitigation have not been effectively communicated to the public and the risk perception regarding shellfish consumption during red tides has declined (Kuhar et al, 2009;Kirkpatrick et al, 2014).…”

Section: Future Challenges Associated With Florida Habs and Hab Risk Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Florida’s Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Problem: Escalating Risks to Human, Environmental and Economic Health With Climate Change

Heil

Muni-Morgan

2021

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) pose unique risks to the citizens, stakeholders, visitors, environment and economy of the state of Florida. Florida has been historically subjected to reoccurring blooms of the toxic marine dinoflagellate Karenia brevis (C. C. Davis) G. Hansen & Moestrup since at least first contact with explorers in the 1500’s. However, ongoing immigration of more than 100,000 people year–1 into the state, elevated population densities in coastal areas with attendant rapid, often unregulated development, coastal eutrophication, and climate change impacts (e.g., increasing hurricane severity, increases in water temperature, ocean acidification and sea level rise) has likely increased the occurrence of other HABs, both freshwater and marine, within the state as well as the number of people impacted by these blooms. Currently, over 75 freshwater, estuarine, coastal and marine HAB species are routinely monitored by state agencies. While only blooms of K. brevis, the dinoflagellate Pyrodinium bahamense (Böhm) Steidinger, Tester, and Taylor and the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia spp. have resulted in closure of commercial shellfish beds, other HAB species, including freshwater and marine cyanobacteria, pose either imminent or unknown risks to human, environmental and economic health. HAB related human health risks can be classified into those related to consumption of contaminated shellfish and finfish, consumption of or contact with bloom or toxin contaminated water or exposure to aerosolized HAB toxins. While acute human illnesses resulting from consumption of brevetoxin-, saxitoxin-, and domoic acid-contaminated commercial shellfish have been minimized by effective monitoring and regulation, illnesses due to unregulated toxin exposures, e.g., ciguatoxins and cyanotoxins, are not well documented or understood. Aerosolized HAB toxins potentially impact the largest number of people within Florida. While short-term (days to weeks) impacts of aerosolized brevetoxin exposure are well documented (e.g., decreased respiratory function for at-risk subgroups such as asthmatics), little is known of longer term (>1 month) impacts of exposure or the risks posed by aerosolized cyanotoxin [e.g., microcystin, β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA)] exposure. Environmental risks of K. brevis blooms are the best studied of Florida HABs and include acute exposure impacts such as significant dies-offs of fish, marine mammals, seabirds and turtles, as well as negative impacts on larval and juvenile stages of many biota. When K. brevis blooms are present, brevetoxins can be found throughout the water column and are widespread in both pelagic and benthic biota. The presence of brevetoxins in living tissue of both fish and marine mammals suggests that food web transfer of these toxins is occurring, resulting in toxin transport beyond the spatial and temporal range of the bloom such that impacts of these toxins may occur in areas not regularly subjected to blooms. Climate change impacts, including temperature effects on cell metabolism, shifting ocean circulation patterns and changes in HAB species range and bloom duration, may exacerbate these dynamics. Secondary HAB related environmental impacts are also possible due to hypoxia and anoxia resulting from elevated bloom biomass and/or the decomposition of HAB related mortalities. Economic risks related to HABs in Florida are diverse and impact multiple stakeholder groups. Direct costs related to human health impacts (e.g., increased hospital visits) as well as recreational and commercial fisheries can be significant, especially with wide-spread sustained HABs. Recreational and tourism-based industries which sustain a significant portion of Florida’s economy are especially vulnerable to both direct (e.g., declines in coastal hotel occupancy rates and restaurant and recreational users) and indirect (e.g., negative publicity impacts, associated job losses) impacts from HABs. While risks related to K. brevis blooms are established, Florida also remains susceptible to future HABs due to large scale freshwater management practices, degrading water quality, potential transport of HABs between freshwater and marine systems and the state’s vulnerability to climate change impacts.

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“…When the word of a Florida red tide inevitably gets out, and in the face of incentives to be less than fully forthcoming about bloom conditions, the risks faced by residents and visitors may become blurred, appearing to be more widespread and to last longer than what is actually the case. This is one example of a "social amplification" of risk, potentially intensified by the media (Kuhar et al, 2009;Li et al, 2015) and sometimes referred to as an "economic halo" (Jensen, 1975). Social amplification is a form of the miscommunication of risk.…”

Section: Assessment and Communication Of The Risksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Framed as a story of environmental risk (Li et al, 2015) or even of science fiction (Kusek et al, 1999) in the absence of comprehensive information about red tide as a hazard, the media present an incomplete picture, prompting the public to draw overstated conclusions about the actual risks. The scientific community can communicate more reasoned information about Kb blooms, but typically it may do so at a slower pace and in formats, such as through peer-reviewed publications, that may be more difficult for the public to access or grasp (Hoagland, 2014).…”

Section: Assessment and Communication Of The Risksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lessening the Hazards of Florida Red Tides: A Common Sense Approach

et al. 2020

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In the Gulf of Mexico, especially along the southwest Florida coast, blooms of the dinoflagellate Karenia brevis are a coastal natural hazard. The organism produces a potent class of toxins, known as brevetoxins, which are released following cell lysis into ocean or estuarine waters or, upon aerosolization, into the atmosphere. When exposed to sufficient levels of brevetoxins, humans may suffer from respiratory, gastrointestinal, or neurological illnesses. The hazard has been exacerbated by the geometric growth of human populations, including both residents and tourists, along Florida's southwest coast. Impacts to marine organisms or ecosystems also may occur, such as fish kills or deaths of protected mammals, turtles, or birds. Since the occurrence of a severe Karenia brevis bloom off the southwest Florida coast three-quarters of a century ago, there has been an ongoing debate about the best way for humans to mitigate the impacts of this hazard. Because of the importance of tourism to coastal Florida, there are incentives for businesses and governments alike to obfuscate descriptions of these blooms, leading to the social amplification of risk. We argue that policies to improve the public's ability to understand the physical attributes of blooms, specifically risk communication policies, are to be preferred over physical, chemical, or biological controls. In particular, we argue that responses to this type of hazard must emphasize maintaining the continuity of programs of scientific research, environmental monitoring, public education, and notification. We propose a common-sense approach to risk communication, comprising a simplification of the public provision of existing sources of information to be made available on a mobile website.

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Risk in Daily Newspaper Coverage of Red Tide Blooms in Southwest Florida

Cited by 8 publications

References 41 publications

Risk perception, media exposure, and visitor’s behavior responses to Florida Red Tide

Risk perception, media exposure, and visitor’s behavior responses to Florida Red Tide

Florida’s Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Problem: Escalating Risks to Human, Environmental and Economic Health With Climate Change

Lessening the Hazards of Florida Red Tides: A Common Sense Approach

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