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Water-Related News

Book explains science, politics of Florida sinkholes

By Tom Palmer

Years ago a group called the Florida League Against Progress launched a humorous campaign to persuade people in other parts of the country that Florida wasn't such a great place to move to.

Their goal was to somehow curb the state's explosive growth.

They dubbed Florida "The Sinkhole State."

They were actually on to something.

Florida is one of the best places on the planet to see the earth disappear suddenly.

"Nowhere else in the world are so many people touched by sinkholes as in Florida," writes Robert Brinkmann in his recently published book "Florida Sinkholes: Science And Policy" (University Press of Florida, 224 pages, $49.95).

Brinkmann directs the sustainability studies program at Hofstra University in New York.

If you want to understand sinkholes in Florida as well as anyone who's not a scientist can, this book is a good place to start.