The amount of Arabian Sea algae has recently increased, covering a great territory due to global warming. The Gulf of Oman covers in green plants twice per year, when algae bloom and spread across the Arabian Sea, covering a large territory of the size of Mexico. The veil of algae which covers the water reaches India. Researchers argue that these microscopic creatures are prospering in new weather conditions triggered by global warming.
- Climate change fueled the excessive bloom of Arabian Sea algae which continue to spread.
- These blooms determine the deaths of hundreds of species.
- The toxins coming from algae have poisoned several species and have killed even humans.
They displace the zooplankton which supports the local food chain, jeopardizing the whole marine ecosystem. Khalid al-Hashmi, a marine biologist at the Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, states that the terrible stench of the ammonia secretions of algae had dimmed the area. The researchers’ vessel was slowly approaching the mass of algae as the smell became even harder to cope with. Hashmi orders the ship to stop off the coast of Muscat, Oman’s capital.
He argues that thirty years ago the swarms of algae, which it now surfaces the water, were once invisible. Nowadays, due to climate change, they prospered and bloomed being visible from satellites. All over the planet, these algae bloom have destroyed local ecosystems. Algae can paralyze fish, absorbing the oxygen around them and, thus, suffocating them.
Manatees, dolphins, turtles and whales have died in large numbers due to the toxins emitted by algae in the waters of the Pacific and the Atlantic. Based on the data provided by the UN science agency, these dangerous toxins have infiltrated in marine food chains, and they have also caused people to die by poisoning. In the Great Lakes of Seychelles, Thailand and North America, the algae bloom green. In the North Atlantic, they are white.
In Florida, they bloom red, and in Puget Sound, they bloom orange. The Taiwanese refer to algae blooms as “blue tears,” while the Irish named it the “sea ghost.” Paula Bontempi, the manager for ocean carbon and biology projects at the US space agency, argued that NASA makes use of drones and satellite imaging to map these blooms. When she looked at the images sent by satellites, she argued that all these waters look now as if they are part of some odd paintings, unveiling swirls of chlorophyll spiraling across the oceans of the world.
Unfortunately, climate change leads to a disaster like this where microscopic organisms like algae develop to abolish the habitat of hundreds of other species.
Image source: flickr
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