The natural geographical environment in which human beings live often occurs in some natural events, resulting in the loss of human life and property, which we call "natural disasters". According to the causes of natural disasters, they can be divided into meteorological disasters, geological disasters, marine disasters and biological disasters, of course, some disasters may belong to the above two classifications, such as red tide in the ocean, which is both a marine disaster and a biological disaster.
Algae outbreaks off the west coast of Florida
In many cases, we classify red tides as environmental problems, usually due to the proliferation of organisms such as algae caused by eutrophication pollution. However, in fact, in the natural environment, in a certain area and a certain period of time, there may also be a phenomenon of large-scale reproduction of algae, then this situation is a natural disaster.
Map of the Florida Peninsula
For example, there have been a large outbreak of algae in the waters off the west side of the Florida Peninsula in the United States recently. The algae that erupted in the waters off the west side of Florida are mainly harmful brachyceous algae, which have been growing in the waters around the Florida peninsula, but are usually not large. However, in 2021, there will be a large number of breeding on the western side of the peninsula, especially near Tampa Bay.
Algae in the waters off the west side of the Florida Peninsula
In general, in order to make algae such as brachyceous algae multiply in large quantities, two conditions must be met. The first condition is the high temperature condition, the high temperature of the summer season, can promote the growth and reproduction of algae to accelerate, the activity of algae is stronger, more likely to occur algae outbreaks. The second condition is that there must be enough nutrients in the water, and brachycephalus is a tiny algae that, like other phytoplankton, needs to obtain nutrients from nature, and can only grow and reproduce in large quantities if the nutrients are sufficient.
Map of algae density in Tampa Bay
Apparently, the large-scale outbreak of algae in the western coast of the Florida Peninsula in the United States is mainly due to too much nutrients in the seawater. As for the source of the nutrients, scientists have not yet determined exactly, possibly due to nutrients brought by ocean currents along the coast. In addition, it may also be nutrients brought by coastal runoff, and the coastal areas of the Florida Peninsula are mostly distributed with vegetation such as short-stemmed grasses, and the growth of terrestrial vegetation, and then through surface runoff, make a large amount of nutrients watershed bays.
Blooms in the waters off the west side of Florida
The 2021 bloom is particularly severe near Tampa Bay, an algae that produces neurotoxins that can cause the death of marine life such as fish and can cause skin irritation and breathing problems in humans. Coastal crews off the coast of Florida have collected more than 600 tons of dead fish and marine life that have died in blooms, and algae outbreaks are still ongoing due to summer heat.
Rivers bring a lot of nutrients