This is for @nikonpup
Falling Iguana Watch and the limits of tropical invaders
In Florida, the starkest symbol of this cold snap is the now familiar “Falling Iguana Watch.” When temperatures drop into the 30s or lower, green iguanas lose muscle control, slip from branches, and hit the ground in a kind of reptilian rain. Biologists explain that these lizards, which are native to tropical regions, simply are not equipped for prolonged cold and can become immobilized when the mercury dips. During the record chill in 2010, similar conditions left many iguanas stunned or dead, a pattern that scientists have documented in detail in their work on record cold impacts.Residents are once again sharing images of rigid lizards on sidewalks and lawns, and meteorologists are leaning into the moment. One forecast post warned the “FLORIDA gang” to expect scattered to widespread falling iguanas across the Florida Peninsula on Sunday morning, noting that this could be the coldest air mass since 2018 and that the chill is hurting everyone and everything. That kind of language captures both the novelty and the seriousness of the event, as people brace for a morning when the phrase “falling iguanas across the Florida Peninsula” is not a joke but a literal forecast.
