Enormous algae bloom in China
In this image, residents of the city of Qingdao in Shandong province, China, are walking along a beach. Seriously, this is a beach.
Starting in 2007, this area of China, a province on the coast of the Yellow Sea, has suffered the appearance of massive amounts of green algae. The algae, also known as “sea lettuce” is non-toxic, but it does choke off other marine life and drive away tourism as it begins to rot.
This bloom from 2013 was estimated to be 29,000 square kilometers in area, larger than the state of Connecticut. This bloom is larger than one in 2008 which impacted preparations for the Summer Olympics, but is actually smaller than a monstrous bloom from 2009. These algae blooms are believed to be the largest ones occurring anywhere on Earth today.
Although there are some obvious candidates such as runoff from farming supplying nutrients like phosphorus and seaweed farming taking place farther south along the Chinese coast, there is currently no single explanation for why these large algae blooms are happening or what changed in 2007 causing them to start appearing.
-JBB
Image credit, China Daily via NBC News/Reuters: http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/02/19248409-algae-creates-a-giant-green-obstacle-for-chinese-beachgoers
Details, press report: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/06/world/asia/huge-algae-bloom-afflicts-qingdao-china.html?_r=0
Other images: http://www.china.org.cn/environment/2013-06/09/content_29078631_4.htm