Our group’s research was highlighted in the NBC 6 South Florida documentary Bittersweet Muck. The film examines the environmental and public health impacts of pre-harvest sugarcane burning in the Everglades Agricultural Area, a practice that releases particulate pollution into the air during harvest season. The documentary explores longstanding concerns from residents about air quality and health effects associated with these fires, as well as the broader scientific and policy debates surrounding the practice.
Chris appears in the documentary to discuss our group’s research quantifying the contribution of sugarcane fires to fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) and associated health risks. Our research showed that many lines of evidence from surface measurements, satellite data, and dispersion models all point to sugarcane fires being a significant source of smoke and PM2.5 in the Everglades Agricultural Area and surrounding counties. Through a health impact assessment, we quantified the likely effect on premature mortality (Nowell et al., 2022, Holmes and Nowell, 2024).