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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Richard Luscombe in Miami

Florida: tree cactus becomes first local species killed off by sea-level rise

Cross-section of Key Largo tree cactus
The tree cactus is now found only on a handful of remote Caribbean islands, northern Cuba and areas of the Bahamas. Photograph: Jennifer Possley/Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

Scientists in Florida have recorded what they say is the first local extinction of a species caused by sea-level rise.

The climate emergency has killed off the Key Largo tree cactus growing naturally in the US through saltwater inundation and soil depletion from hurricanes, according to researchers from the Florida Museum of Natural History, and Miami’s Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.

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