World's Biggest Algae Bloom 'Here to Stay'

[Judi Lynn]

Posted by News Editor in Latest News, Oceans, RSS on July 9, 2019 2:08 pm



Too much Sargassum can present challenges for
marine life and becomes a problem when it collects
along coastlines and rots, as shown here in Cancun
in 2015. (Photo courtesy NASA)

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida, July 9, 2019 (ENS) – The largest bloom of macroalgae in the world, an unprecedented belt of brown algae, now stretches from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico – and it’s likely here to stay warn scientists at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg’s College of Marine Science. They used NASA satellite observations to discover and document the bloom.

The scientists named it the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt because it is composed of Sargassum, a genus of large brown seaweed, a type of algae, that floats in island-like masses.

In 2011, Sargassum populations started to explode in places it had never been before, like the central Atlantic Ocean, and then it arrived in huge gobs that suffocated shorelines and introduced a new nuisance for local environments and economies.

“The scale of these blooms is truly enormous, making global satellite imagery a good tool for detecting and tracking their dynamics through time,” said Woody Turner, manager of the Ecological Forecasting Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

More:
http://ens-newswire.com/2019/07/09/worlds-biggest-algae-bloom-here-to-stay/

[no_hypocrisy]

1. No climate change, no problem!

[Judi Lynn]

2. Maybe, in time, we can walk to Africa on a blanket of algae. n/t

[cutroot]

3. I hope that it tastes good. We may have to start eating it.

[mr_lebowski]

4. What's neat about the stuff is that as it decomposes it releases copious amounts of hydrogen sulfide

Or as we all know it, 'rotten egg smell'.

Apparently however it may have some use as a building material, after drying, from what I saw on a special about the stuff.

[littlemissmartypants]

5. We really have no idea

What the future holds as it relates to flora and fauna changes throughout the world as a result of climate change. Phenomenon like this are just the tip of the iceberg and those are literally disappearing too. Imagine a day when you have to explain what an iceberg used to be. We really aren't prepared at all.