5,000-mile seaweed carpet visible from space threatens US beaches

A giant carpet of seaweed stretching over 5,000 miles (about 8,047 kilometers), almost twice the width of the United States, looks set to cause problems along the coasts of Florida and Mexico, as scientists study the algae’s effects. Worried about. according to a report in nbc newsThe fleet of brown seaweed in the Atlantic Ocean is so large that it can be seen even from space.

The algal bloom known as the “Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt” extends from the coast of West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico. It weighs over 20 million tons and is the largest seaweed bloom on Earth.

In open water, these algae are generally safe and even beneficial, serving as habitat for some fish and crustaceans and absorbing carbon dioxide, among other things. However, sargassum is being pushed west by ocean currents, and as a result, large swathes of the seaweed are washing up on beaches in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, according to the outlet. Its decomposition can suffocate corals, destroy coastal ecosystems, and reduce water quality.

Experts have warned that this year’s bloom is particularly dangerous because “the invasion of beaches could become particularly severe in the coming weeks and months”. “It’s incredible. What we’re seeing in the satellite imagery doesn’t bode well for a clean beach year,” Brian LaPointe, a research professor at Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, told the outlet.

Despite the typically heaping wash up in May, he explained that beaches in Key West are already covered in algae. Beaches in Mexico including Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum are bracing for a significant sargassum buildup this week.

According to Brian Barnes, assistant research professor in the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science, the amount of seaweed is increasing every year, reaching record-breaking highs in 2018 and 2022. He claimed that this year, however, would break the previous record. ,

Along with the decomposition of seaweed, its effect on human health is also coming into focus. It releases hydrogen sulphide, which can cause respiratory problems for tourists and residents in the surrounding area. Furthermore, removing hundreds of tons of algae from beaches is costly and invasions can also hurt tourism.

Read also: Frozen dead shark found on Cape Cod beach amid US cold wave

According to Mr. Lapointe, the world’s largest rivers—the Congo, the Amazon, the Orinoco and the Mississippi—have all been affected by deforestation, increased fertilizer use and the burning of biomass. “All of this is increasing nitrogen concentrations in these rivers and so we are now seeing these blooms as a manifestation of the changing nutrient cycles on our planet.” He claimed that climate change could exacerbate many of these problems by increasing flooding and runoff in important waterways.

Mr Barnes continued, “Historically, as far as we have records, sargassum has been a part of the ecosystem, but now the scale has grown so much. What we thought five years ago was a major eruption Was, now he’s not even a jerk.”