Meet the #sargassum belt, a 5,000-mile-long snake of #seaweed circling #Florida

Key points:

- Sargassum can contain heavy metals, including arsenic. It has fairly high concentrations of the toxin, that, through leaching, that could impact groundwater.

- Humans are altering the nitrogen cycle. We're using more fertilizer, burning biomass, cutting down forests and increasing wastewater from cities, all of which sends ammonium, nitrate and phosphate down major river systems

March 15, 20235:00 AM ET

"In the open sea, healthy patches of sargassum can soak up carbon dioxide and serve as a critical habitat for fish, crabs, shrimp, turtles and birds.

"But if sargassum moves closer to the coast, the #seaweed can wreak havoc on local #ecosystems, smothering #coral reefs and altering the water's pH balance. Once ashore, clumps of sargassum can choke local economies by closing tourism sites, cutting off marinas and constricting fishing yields.

"Sargassum begins to rot after about 48 hours on land, releasing irritants like #hydrogensulfide, a hazard to anyone with respiratory issues like asthma. Oh, and the resulting smell resembles manure or rotten eggs — not a great spring break aroma.

"It used to be that sargassum rafts were disparate, sporadic bodies, causing little disruption to beach-going.

"But scientists noticed a change in sargassum levels in 2011, when masses of the seaweed multiplied, gaining in density and size, becoming so big they were captured on satellite images.

"Today, the patches comprise a 5,500-mile-long, 10 million-ton belt that circulates annually, starting near West Africa and snaking through the Gulf of Mexico back into the Atlantic."

#WaterIsLife #Pollution #Fertilizers #Runoff #IndustrialFarming

Read more:
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/15/1163385168/sargassum-seaweed-florida-mexico-beaches?utm_source=pocket-newtab