Blue-Green Algae Mat In Baltic Sea Reaches 377,000 Square Kilometers: Hypoxia, Anoxia Spreading

[hatrack]

Record summer temperatures, farm fertilisers and a lack of wind have created a gigantic carpet of evil-smelling weed covering large areas of the Baltic and threatening both marine life and seaside tourism, scientists warn.

The 377,000 sq km of blue-green algae, covering an area the size of Germany, has been identified by satellite cameras. It extends from Finland along the south coast of Sweden and surrounds the Danish island of Bornholm.

Scientists from the German section of the World Wide Fund for Nature in Hamburg have warned of the damaging effects of the weed. "These huge algae carpets hit the marine environment most," said Jochen Lamp, a WWF project spokesman. "They kill plants and encourage the spread of dead zones on the sea bed which have no oxygen left in them."

Blue-green algae, which often smell of rotten eggs, can also harm humans as they contain cynanobacteria, which can produce skin rashes and other allergic reactions as well as poisons that damage the liver. Doctors warn that drinking water contaminated with the algae can cause severe diarrhoea.

EDIT

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/evil-weed-in-baltic-sea-puts-marine-life-at-risk-2033399.html

[sui generis]

1. can we turn it into oil?

run it through a digester or something. quick someone call BP. :P

[msongs]

2. is it edible by humans or other farm animals? nt

[hatrack]

3. Cyanobacteria - most definitely not human-friendly

.

[donquijoterocket]

4. temperature

One must wonder what part water and air temperature play in the growth and spread of this noxious stuff.I didn't notice that the article dealt with that variable.But such is the nature of science writing these days. There are really only three writers I trust to get it complete and correct. Carl Zimmer,Natalie Angier, or Olivia Judson. I suppose that in addition to those three I'd throw in the two writers who post as Darksyde and Devil's Tower over at DailyKos.My main science fix comes from the compendium site Scienceblogs-http://scienceblogs.com/
I suppose that even were a positive correlation to higher temps proved it would just be one more data point for the denialists to ignore until such time as this stuff gets into their favorite boating lake at which point they will start jumping up and down and screaming for government action and wondering why the government didn't see it coming and move to prevent it.

[eppur_se_muova]

5. BBC has satellite pic ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10740097




Too bad it couldn't have been an outbreak of nutritous Spirulina. :(