{"id":5834,"date":"2017-10-10T16:37:30","date_gmt":"2017-10-10T11:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cawater-info.net\/all_about_water\/en\/?p=5834"},"modified":"2017-10-10T16:38:27","modified_gmt":"2017-10-10T11:38:27","slug":"chinas-massive-algae-bloom-could-leave-the-oceans-water-lifeless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.cawater-info.net\/all_about_water\/en\/?p=5834","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s Massive Algae Bloom Could Leave the Ocean\u2019s Water Lifeless"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s become an annual affair,\u00a0the rafts of green algae washing up on the shores\u00a0of\u00a0Qingdao, China. Since 2007, massive algae blooms in the\u00a0Yellow Sea\u00a0have been\u00a0fueled, scientists think, by \u201cpollution and increased seaweed farming\u201d south of Qingdao.\u00a0The mats of\u00a0photosynthetic\u00a0phytoplankton\u00a0aren\u2019t dangerous to people (unless you count ruining a day at the beach as dangerous), but the return of these massive algae blooms year after year could be troubling for the marine creatures living in the Yellow Sea.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe carpet on the surface can dramatically change the ecology of the environment beneath it,\u201d\u00a0says the\u00a0Guardian. \u201cIt blocks sunlight from entering the ocean and sucks oxygen from the water suffocating marine life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vast blooms of algae can cause the water to become \u201chypoxic,\u201d to have the concentration of oxygen in the water drawn down so low that it makes it uninhabitable for many marine creatures.\u00a0A strong case of hypoxia can further lead to something called a \u201cdead zone.\u201d And, by drawing down the oxygen levels and messing with the chemistry of the water,\u00a0algae blooms can temporarily amplify ocean acidification.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration explains how algae blooms lead to dead zones:<\/p>\n

Such\u00a0recurring, annual algae blooms like the one in Qingdao aren\u2019t limited to China\u2019s Yellow Sea, either.\u00a0According to\u00a0Scientific American,\u00a0there are at least 405 dead zones around the world. One of the worst in the world is the one in the Gulf of Mexico, where this year researchers with NOAA expect around 8,000 square miles of the Gulf to be oxygen depleted\u2014a patch of ocean about the size of New Jersey,\u00a0says\u00a0National Geographic. If the bloom lives up to expectations, this year\u2019s would be the largest dead zone in the Gulf on record.<\/p>\n

So while China\u2019s algae problem may be making a mess for swimmers, it\u2019s the life beneath the waves that may be hurting the most.<\/p>\n

Source: http:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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