{"id":564034,"date":"2023-03-15T18:05:01","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T15:05:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/big-stinky-blob-of-algae-takes-aim-at-florida-beaches-whats-causing-it-is-it-climate-change\/"},"modified":"2023-03-15T18:05:01","modified_gmt":"2023-03-15T15:05:01","slug":"big-stinky-blob-of-algae-takes-aim-at-florida-beaches-whats-causing-it-is-it-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/big-stinky-blob-of-algae-takes-aim-at-florida-beaches-whats-causing-it-is-it-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"#Big, stinky blob of algae takes aim at Florida beaches. What&#039;s causing it? Is it climate change?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a4e73e1b6f0b\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a4e73e1b6f0b\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/big-stinky-blob-of-algae-takes-aim-at-florida-beaches-whats-causing-it-is-it-climate-change\/#Big_stinky_blob_of_algae_takes_aim_at_Florida_beaches_Whats_causing_it_Is_it_climate_change\" >Big, stinky blob of algae takes aim at Florida beaches. What&#039;s causing it? Is it climate change?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/big-stinky-blob-of-algae-takes-aim-at-florida-beaches-whats-causing-it-is-it-climate-change\/#What_is_causing_the_algal_blooms\" >What is causing the\u00a0algal\u00a0blooms?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/big-stinky-blob-of-algae-takes-aim-at-florida-beaches-whats-causing-it-is-it-climate-change\/#Isnt_sargassum_naturally_occurring\" >Isn&#8217;t sargassum naturally occurring?\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/big-stinky-blob-of-algae-takes-aim-at-florida-beaches-whats-causing-it-is-it-climate-change\/#Phytoplankton_blooms_increasing_in_size_and_frequency\" >Phytoplankton blooms increasing\u00a0in size and frequency\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/big-stinky-blob-of-algae-takes-aim-at-florida-beaches-whats-causing-it-is-it-climate-change\/#Is_climate_change_affecting_algae_blooms\" >Is climate change affecting algae blooms?\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/big-stinky-blob-of-algae-takes-aim-at-florida-beaches-whats-causing-it-is-it-climate-change\/#Where_will_the_sargassum_pile_up_this_year\" >Where will the sargassum pile\u00a0up this year?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Big_stinky_blob_of_algae_takes_aim_at_Florida_beaches_Whats_causing_it_Is_it_climate_change\"><\/span>Big, stinky blob of algae takes aim at Florida beaches. What&#039;s causing it? Is it climate change?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<p>Beachgoers in Florida and the Caribbean could be greeted by heavy blankets of smelly seaweed\u00a0in the weeks ahead as a 5,000 mile swath of sargassum drifts westward and piles onto white sandy beaches.<\/p>\n<p>Sargassum, a naturally-occurring type of macroalgae, has grown at an alarming rate this winter.\u00a0The belt stretches across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to Florida and the Yucatan Peninsula and is as much as 200-300 miles wide.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This year could be the biggest year yet,&#8221; even bigger than previous upticks,\u00a0said Brian Lapointe,\u00a0an algae specialist and research professor at Florida Atlantic University&#8217;s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s already beginning to wash up\u00a0in the Florida Keys and Barbados and elsewhere in the region, but researchers don&#8217;t know where the bulk of it could wind up.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong>How does climate change affect you?<\/strong>: <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/USATclimatenews\">Subscribe to the weekly Climate Point newsletter<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong>READ MORE<\/strong>: Latest climate change <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> from USA TODAY<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The monstrous seaweed bloom is just one more example of a growing global invasion of macro and microscopic algal blooms thriving on an increasing supply of\u00a0nutrients such as nitrogen in freshwater and marine ecosystems.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"This image based on satellite photos shows the massive belt of sargassum seaweed blooming across the Atlantic Ocean and drifting onto beaches in Florida and the Caribbean.\" data-uuid=\"f5cc8cd6-5d59-3d8b-a4ec-3de090896272\" height=\"609\" id=\"11474034002\" src=\"https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/aol_usatoday_us_articles_590\/7ab8def6134856dfd01a2a9f0a08bb74\" width=\"1417\"><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_causing_the_algal_blooms\"><\/span>What is causing the\u00a0algal\u00a0blooms?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In addition to the unsightly piles of sargassum along the coast, some species produce toxins that affect the food chain or deplete the oxygen in the water when they start to decay, causing fish kills and the die off of other marine species.<\/p>\n<p><em>Here&#8217;s what to know:<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Cause:<\/strong>The algal blooms are linked to human activities, such as lawn fertilizers, wastewater and agricultural runoff, that increasingly send pollutants into rivers, lakes and oceans.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Key quote:<\/strong> &#8220;These nutrients are the common thread that ties all the algal blooms together,&#8221; whether it&#8217;s sargassum, red tide, or blue green algae,\u00a0Lapointe said. It&#8217;s also linked to the &#8220;brown tide&#8221; bloom in Florida&#8217;s Indian River Lagoon\u00a0that&#8217;s been blamed for killing thousands of acres of seagrass, leading to the starving deaths of hundreds of manatees.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Looking ahead<\/strong>: Such algal blooms are expected to occur more often and cover larger areas of the globe in the future, potentially harming other aquatic ecosystems, fisheries and coastal resources,\u00a0reported<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-023-05760-y\"> a group of international researchers in a coastal phytoplankton study\u00a0published this month in the journal Nature<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Not all algal blooms are bad. Many can occur naturally, and can have\u00a0positive effects.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong style=\"margin-right:3px\">FOR SUBSCRIBERS: <\/strong>Huge seaweed blob on way to Florida is &#8216;like a Stephen King movie&#8217;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Beachgoers make their way through mounds of seaweed along the shoreline in Ormond Beach, Tuesday, May 25, 2021.  \" data-uuid=\"05a01399-606c-3b9a-a31a-08b8bd6bdc56\" height=\"3265\" id=\"7435344002\" src=\"https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/aol_usatoday_us_articles_590\/bd125127d0f69d0cd5767df1210bc06a\" width=\"5103\"><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Isnt_sargassum_naturally_occurring\"><\/span>Isn&#8217;t sargassum naturally occurring?\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Yes. Christopher Columbus wrote about floating mats of it in the Atlantic Ocean.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not a bad thing to have the sargassum in the ocean,&#8221; said Brian Barnes, an assistant research professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa. Sea turtle hatchlings swim from Florida beaches to the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic where they spend their early lives floating and foraging in the grass.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If it all stays offshore, we wouldn&#8217;t really have a problem,&#8221; Barnes said.\u00a0But the macroalgae has mushroomed in size, over the past\u00a012 years or so, making it more likely to see large piles of seaweed that make it difficult to walk, sit or play on\u00a0beaches.<\/p>\n<p>The trend was first documented on satellite in 2011.<\/p>\n<p>In some cases, there&#8217;s so much seaweed, local governments must use\u00a0heavy equipment and\u00a0dump trucks to haul it away, LaPointe said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He has linked the surge in sargassum to flow from the Mississippi River, extreme flooding in the Amazon basin, as well as to the\u00a0mouth of the Congo where upwelling and vertical mixing of the ocean can bring up nutrients that feed the blooms. He said deforestation and burning also may contribute.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong>DEFINITIONS<\/strong>: Is climate change the same thing as global warming? Definitions explained.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong>CLIMATE CHANGE CAUSES<\/strong>: Why scientists say humans are to blame.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Phytoplankton_blooms_increasing_in_size_and_frequency\"><\/span>Phytoplankton blooms increasing\u00a0in size and frequency\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Blooms of much smaller algae \u2014 a\u00a0microscopic species known as\u00a0phytoplankton \u2014 increased in size and frequency around the world between 2003 and 2020, the researchers concluded in the Nature study.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We\u2019ve seen something pretty similar in\u00a0a lot of the things we study,&#8221; said\u00a0Barnes.\u00a0&#8220;We\u2019re seeing such massive blooms now.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The coastal phytoplankton study, by Lian Feng at the Southern University of <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Science<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology<\/a> in China, and others, used images from NASA\u2019s Aqua satellite. They found:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Blooms affected more than 8% of the global ocean area in 2020, a 13.2% increase from 2003.<\/li>\n<li>Bloom frequency increased globally at a rate of nearly 60%.<\/li>\n<li>Europe and North America had the largest bloom areas.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Africa and South America saw the most frequent blooms, more than 6.3 per year.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Australia had the lowest frequency and smallest affected area.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_climate_change_affecting_algae_blooms\"><\/span>Is climate change affecting algae blooms?\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Blooms have been at least indirectly linked to climate change in several ways, but especially to the\u00a0warming temperatures that bring more extreme rainfall that washes silt and pollutants into waterways.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong style=\"margin-right:3px\">FOR SUBSCRIBERS: <\/strong>Saving endangered right whales pits advocates against lobstermen<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong style=\"margin-right:3px\">GREEN ENERGY: <\/strong>Growing group of mayors at odds with experts over whale deaths and offshore windmills<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The authors of the coastal phytoplankton study, Lapointe and other researchers have found the following:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A correlation in some regions between changes in sea surface temperatures and ocean circulation.<\/li>\n<li>Warmer temperatures coincided with blooms in high latitude regions such as Alaska and the Baltic Sea.<\/li>\n<li>Climate change can affect ocean circulation and the movement of nutrients that feed phytoplankton blooms.<\/li>\n<li>Global climate events, such as El Nino, also show\u00a0connections to bloom frequency and movement.<\/li>\n<li>Algal bloom-favorable seasons in temperate seas have increased with warmer temperatures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_will_the_sargassum_pile_up_this_year\"><\/span>Where will the sargassum pile\u00a0up this year?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;We can&#8217;t really say which particular beach at which particular time,&#8221; Barnes said. The University publishes a regular update on the status of the sargassum bloom.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We can get an idea of when it will be fairly close,&#8221; he said. &#8220;In <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>, everything flows west. It will come across the Central Atlantic and into the Caribbean, and into the Gulf of Mexico through the straits of Florida.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Winds, currents and even small storms can influence where the sargassum moves.<\/p>\n<p>Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands could get hit pretty hard, Barnes said. But the floating mats\u00a0also wind up on beaches in Jamaica and all around the coast of Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>This article originally <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>eared on USA TODAY: Sargassum seaweed blob headed toward Florida, the Caribbean. Why?<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/2023\/03\/14\/smelly-seaweed-sargassum-headed-toward-florida\/11468969002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Big, stinky blob of algae takes aim at Florida beaches. What&#039;s causing it? Is it climate change? Beachgoers in Florida and the Caribbean could be greeted by heavy blankets of smelly seaweed\u00a0in the weeks ahead as a 5,000 mile swath of sargassum drifts westward and piles onto white sandy beaches. Sargassum, a naturally-occurring type of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":564035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/aol_usatoday_us_articles_590\/7ab8def6134856dfd01a2a9f0a08bb74","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-564034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}