Latest news with #Sargassum
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Record-breaking sargassum invasion in Atlantic, Caribbean threatens to foul beach resorts
TAMPA, Fla. - A record-breaking 37.5 million metric tons of seaweed was detected during May, with biologists warning that some Caribbean resorts may be blanketed by the naturally-occurring phenomenon during the coming weeks. According to a new report from the University of South Florida's Optical Oceanography Lab, the observed amount of seaweed was the largest detected amount in the Atlantic basin since monitoring began in 2011. "As predicted last month, while the spatial distribution patterns of Sargassum remained stable, Sargassum amount in each region increased in May considerably," researchers stated. "In every (area) but the Gulf of Mexico region, Sargassum amount exceeded its historical record. In particular, total Sargassum amount from all regions combined further increased from 31 (million) tons in April to 37.5 (million) tons in May, making a new record." Small amounts have already been detected on some beaches along the Gulf Coast and Florida, with experts and beachgoers alike wondering if or when the more substantial blooms will invade beaches across the southern U.S. During typical years, the Florida Keys may see widespread reports during the late spring, with more significant impacts across the Florida peninsula during the summer and fall. Photos and videos from eastern Puerto Rico show several waterways and beaches covered by the seaweed, with likely months to go before their inundation is over. Noaa Mission Finds Unexpected Discovery At Site Of Sunken Uss Yorktown "Although 2025 is a record year in terms of Sargassum amount, whether a beach or small region receives record-high Sargassum inundation depends not only on the offshore Sargassum amount, but also on local factors that are difficult to predict, including winds and ocean currents," USF staff stated. The exact causes of the growing blooms are not fully understood, but researchers point to climate change, fertilizer runoff and deforestation in South America as possible significant contributors. Health experts say that while the seaweed may look and smell unpleasant, it poses little risk to humans, but it can significantly impact the tourism industry. Popular beaches can turn into foul-smelling destinations, forcing local governments to spend significant resources on cleanup and restoration efforts. As part of the Mexican government's response, officials planned to focus on discovery and containment efforts in the waters surrounding nearly four dozen popular beaches along the Yucatán Peninsula and Caribbean coast. For areas around the Yucatán Peninsula, seaweed typically washes ashore between April and October but, due to climate change, its increased presence has become particularly problematic in recent years. Globs Of Seaweed Wash Ahsore In Miami Beach Ahead Of Sargassum Season It remains undetermined if the seaweed will plague Florida like in 2023, when many beaches were covered in the sticky mess. Looking ahead, the report expects the sargassum to continue to grow in coverage throughout June, particularly in the western Caribbean and into the Gulf. For some species of marine life, the brown algae is considered to be helpful, with biologists stating that the buildup provides food and refuge for small fish, crabs, shrimp and other article source: Record-breaking sargassum invasion in Atlantic, Caribbean threatens to foul beach resorts
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
31 million tons of seaweed ready to stink up Florida's beaches
A smelly, sometimes toxic 'killer belt of seaweed' might put a damper on Floridians' Memorial Day weekend plans. Sargassum is back just in time for the unofficial start of summer and this year's influx of the brown algae would be record breaking at 31 million tons. Sargassum is a genus of large brown seaweed. As a seaweed, it is also a type of algae. It floats along the ocean in island-like masses and does not attach to the seafloor the way that kelp does. According to NOAA, this brown algae is abundant in the world's oceans. It has many leafy appendages, branches, and its signature berry-like structures. These round 'berries' are actually gas-filled structures called pneumatocysts. They are primarily filled with oxygen and add buoyancy to the plant structure and allow it to float on the surface of the water, similar to a life jacket. Importantly, Sargassum provides food and a floating habitat for several marine species including various fishes, sea turtles, marine birds, crabs, and shrimp. Some animals, like the sargassum fish will spend their whole lives around Sargassum's gas-filled floats and the seaweed is a nursery area for some commercially important fishes, including mahi mahi, jacks, and amberjacks. When Sargassum washes up on shore, it begins to rot. That rotting triggers the production of hydrogen sulfide gas, which smells like rotten eggs. These odors themselves are not harmful to humans when inhaled in well ventilated areas like the beach. But the gases can accumulate enough to cause harm if they are breathed in within enclosed spaces. 'Hydrogen sulfide can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat,' writes Florida's Department of Health in St. John's County. 'If you have asthma or other breathing illnesses, you will be more sensitive to hydrogen sulfide. You may have trouble breathing after you inhale it.' Coming into contact with the jellyfish or other stinging organisms embedded in the rotting seaweed can cause rashes on the skin. Any workers for volunteers collecting and transporting the seaweed should wear gloves, boots, and gas-filter half masks for protection. [ Related: A stinky, 5,000-mile-long wad of seaweed is about to gunk up Florida's beaches. ] In Florida and the Caribbean, Sargassum season runs from April to August, with June and July as the peak months for setting in along the shoreline. However, the blobs have been spotted along shorelines since March this year. The bloom has already broken its own size record set in June 2022 by 40 percent–and is still growing. The annual bloom now stretches over 5,500 miles of ocean between Africa and the Caribbean and weighs an estimated 31 million tons. 'Sargassum goes from being a very beneficial resource of the North Atlantic to becoming what we refer to as … a harmful algal bloom, when it comes ashore in excessive biomass,' Brian LaPointe, a research professor at Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, told CNN. 'What we have seen since 2011 are excessive inundation events all around the Caribbean region, the Gulf, as well as the South Florida region.' Increasing ocean temperatures due to climate change is one of the reasons for such a large bloom. The Atlantic and waters around Florida have seen record-breaking high temperatures in recent years, creating ideal conditions for the seaweed to thrive. The excess nitrogen in the water from the burning of fossil fuels or dust from the Sahara is believed to be one of the forces behind this supercharged bloom. Scientists can use satellites to track the seaweed and issue warnings if needed. The CariCOOS Sargassum map shows that the bulk of the bloom is currently east of Puerto Rico, but it has already been spotted along Florida's Atlantic coast. NOAA encourages anyone who encounters Sargassum on the beach to report it with this form.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Yahoo
Tons of stinky, brown sargassum headed to Florida beaches. Where it's going, what we know
It's heating up, Memorial Day weekend is coming, and everyone's heading to the beach. Unfortunately, so are tons of toxic seaweed. Sargassum is a beneficial resource in the Atlantic. But on Florida's beaches, sargassum piles up, produces an epic and harmful stench as it rots, and hosts organisms that can irritate the skin. Not the beautiful sun, sand, and surf experience beachgoers are hoping for, which can be a problem for coastal areas in the Sunshine State dependent on tourism. The annual sargassum bloom, a vast floating brown blanket of seaweed stretching across 5,500 miles in the water between Africa and the Caribbean, is encroaching on Florida's coasts and spreading into South Florida waterways. And there's a lot more than usual this year. In April, the University of South Florida estimated this year's bloom is already at 31 million metric tons, '40% more' than the previous record from June 2022, Brian LaPointe, a research professor at Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, told CNN. The sargassum level in March broke records with an estimated 13 million metric tons, topping the previous March record of 12 million metric tons, according to officials with the University of South Florida who track the blooms. The peak months for sargassum invasion are June and July, but blobs of the naturally occurring type of macroalgae have been spotted along our shorelines since March. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, sargassum contains pelagic species of brown seaweed that originate offshore in the Atlantic Ocean and float on the ocean surface. "Sargassum provides many marine ecosystem benefits, including providing habitat for an array of animals such as crabs, shrimp, sea turtles, and fish," FWC writes. "It also serves as a primary nursery area for a variety of economically important fishes such as mahi mahi, jacks and amberjacks." Sargassum season hits its peak from April to August, during the warm months. Since 2011, it has been more abundant in the Central Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of America (formerly Mexico) as rising ocean temperatures provide a welcoming environment. "The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are currently monitoring a large Sargassum bloom and are communicating regularly via routine coordination calls to plan and share current status updates, forecasts, impacts, and trends related to Sargassum in Florida waters," rthe FWC said. The CariCOOS sargassum map shows the bulk of the massive bloom currently surrounds the Lesser Antilles east of the British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. However, sargassum has already been spotted along the Florida coast from St. Augustine down to the Keys. An experimental tracking map from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows where sargassum is likely to wash ashore. As of May 6-12, most of the coast of Florida was under low risks of sargassum and there was a medium risk by the Big Bend coast in North Florida. NOAA also shows medium risks in some areas of Cuba and Mexico, and high risks in parts of Mexico, Jamaica, Punta Cana, San Juan and Central America. To check the water quality and algae blooms near you, click here to see USA Today's database. Why do we measure sargassum? Sargassum blob at record-challenging amount 'Sargassum has been around for eons. Colombus ran into it right in the Sargasso Sea,' La Pointe told CNN. 'But what we are seeing now is above and beyond what we had historically.' Experts say there are several conditions contributing to the record bloom in 2025: Rising ocean temperatures provide a more welcoming environment Concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus are pouring into the Atlantic from the Amazon River, which is coming out of two years of extreme drought, and feeding the bloom There may also be more nitrogen in the water from burning fossil fuels or dust from the Sahara Desert in the atmosphere Sargassum has historically been largely restricted to the Sargassos Sea, a region of the western North Atlantic Ocean surrounded by four currents. Massive sargassum blooms on our coast are fairly recent, starting in 2011. What happened? A modeling study published this year in Nature Communications Earth & Environment suggests why: the 2009–2010 North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), a rare and extreme climatic anomaly. According to the study, powerful westerly winds and a change in ocean currents may have moved sargassum into tropical waters farther south, where nutrient-rich waters and warm temperatures led to explosive growth. In the water, sargassum is considered harmless to people, although the seaweed can also host tiny sea creatures that can cause skin rashes and blisters, according to the Florida Department of Health. On land, sargassum rots and produces hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, which smells similar to rotten eggs. It can irritate the eyes, ears, and nose. People with asthma or other breathing illnesses may have trouble breathing if they inhale too much of it. That doesn't mean you have to avoid the beach. Moving air in open areas like beaches usually dilutes the gas to non-harmful levels. If you don't have any open wounds, you should be OK to swim in waters with sargassum. However, it is still recommended by FDOH to avoid touching or swimming near it. The FWC asks those who wish to report sargassum blooms to go to the NOAA and USF's experimental Sargassum Inundation Report. Contributing: Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Sargassum in Florida for 2025? Seaweed reaching record levels
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Daily Weather Update from FOX Weather: Severe weather eyes millions in Midwest as flooding swamps mid-Atlantic
Welcome to the Daily Weather Update from FOX Weather. It's Wednesday, May 14, 2025. Start your day with everything you need to know about today's weather. You can also get a quick briefing of national, regional and local weather whenever you like with the FOX Weather Update podcast. Tens of millions of people from the Upper Midwest to the Ohio Valley are on alert as a multiday severe weather threat begins Wednesday, with forecasters warning of storms capable of producing tornadoes, large hail and damaging wind gusts. The FOX Forecast Center said the strongest instability and storm energy on Wednesday will be found from the Kansas-Nebraska border northward into the Dakotas beginning late Wednesday afternoon. Large hail is expected to be the primary threat, with a growing risk for tornadoes to develop later Wednesday evening. On Thursday, the severe weather threat will shift east. More than 16 million people in cities like Chicago and Naperville in Illinois, Milwaukee and Madison in Wisconsin and Grand Rapids in Michigan have been placed in a Level 3 out of 5 threat on Thursday. A dire Flash Flood Emergency was issued in western Maryland on Tuesday as a slow-moving but potent storm system that slammed the Southeast with torrential rain and severe weather inched its way toward the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Another Flash Flood Emergency was issued for Greene and Madison counties in Virginia on Tuesday evening, as first responders in Albemarle County, Virginia, said they were still searching for a 12-year-old boy who was swept away by floodwaters. The scorching heat descending upon the Lone Star State will be so extreme that thermometers are forecast to climb higher than the sun-baked sands of all the U.s. deserts, with high temperatures possibly reaching close to 115 degrees along the Rio Grande. The FOX Forecast Center said major cities like Austin and San Antonio can expect record-breaking triple-digit temperatures through Sunday. The hottest conditions will likely peak on Wednesday into Thursday, when all-time heat records for the month of May could be shattered. By the time the heat wave ends, hundreds of daily records are likely to be broken. The extreme heat has triggered Heat Advisories and even Extreme Heat Warnings. Knock, knock. Who's there? Oh, just your friendly neighborhood alligator. Residents in a Florida neighborhood got a surprise at their doors Friday in the form of an alligator with a lawn chair stuck on its head. Video shared by the Lee County Sheriff's Office shows the alligator with a chair on its head arrive on a small front porch of an apartment in Fort Myers. The next shot shows the alligator in a different doorway, this time chair-free. Here are a few more stories you might find interesting. Hurricane survey highlights surprising results for those in impact zones Minnesota wildfires explode in size destroying structures and impacting air quality Florida, Caribbean beaches could be choked out by record levels of Sargassum seaweed this summer Need more weather? Check your local forecast plus 3D radar in the FOX Weather app. You can also watch FOX Weather wherever you go using the FOX Weather app, at or on your favorite streaming article source: Daily Weather Update from FOX Weather: Severe weather eyes millions in Midwest as flooding swamps mid-Atlantic
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Florida, Caribbean beaches could be choked out by record levels of Sargassum seaweed this summer
TAMPA, Fla. – As summer approaches, beachgoers may need to check an additional forecast detail before heading to the shore: the Sargassum seaweed situation. This year is already a record for the amount of Sargassum in the central Atlantic Ocean. "What we observed in April was far and away greater than anything the satellites have recorded over the last 25 years and presumably ever as far as what would be expected," University of South Florida Research Assistant Professor Brian Barnes said. Barnes is part of the small team using satellites to monitor Sargassum Seaweed. USF's College of Marine Science Optical Oceanography Laboratory maintains the Sargassum Watch System, an outlook on current and future seaweed blooms in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf, using a suite of satellite data from Nasa, NOAA and private satellites. Mexico Unveils Plan To Tackle Caribbean Seaweed Invasion At Popular Beaches The outlooks and forecasts from USF have become increasingly important each year because massive amounts of Sargassum began washing up on the shores of Florida's east coast and the Caribbean in 2011. It's a relatively new climate phenomenon that is not fully understood. Total amounts of seaweed in the eastern Caribbean Sea and the western Atlantic reached "surprisingly high levels," according to the USF Sargassum Watch System. Both were 200% higher than their historical records for the month, and the combined regions were 150% higher than the historical record for April. Prior to satellite data, a bloom of this size would have made headlines. "Somebody would have noticed," Barnes said. "And we're not yet to the peak time of the Sargassum, which is usually June. So there's still a ton of biomass that's kind of not really affecting anyone. It's offshore in the tropical Atlantic right now, but a lot of it is migrating into the Caribbean and there's a ton inside the Caribbean," Barnes said. "Some of that will eventually make its way out and affect more US coastlines." While this is a new issue, some seaweed has always been there, just not in the masses we are seeing now arriving at beaches, creating a problematic issue for coastal tourism as the decomposing seaweed releases a stench best described as rotten eggs. The whole Atlantic contains 31 million metric tons of Sargassum spread over a large area. The impacts on beaches in the Caribbean and Florida can be patchy, said Barnes. Florida's West Coast won't see major impacts because of how the ocean currents flow. Heading into Memorial Day weekend, there is a steady amount of sargassum in the Gulf region, about 200,000 metric tons – a fraction compared to the overall Atlantic Sargassum Seaweed belt. With the right combination of winds, currents and weather, a giant blob of Sargassum can end up on a Florida beach along the Atlantic coast. Local impacts are hard to predict more than a week in advance. "A beach may get impacted, whereas a nearby beach would have absolutely nothing," Barnes said. "So we are working towards, and this is something that it's coming online as this season, fortuitously it's come online as the season is a pretty bad sargassum season, is that we've got some of these higher resolution, the Sentinel-2 and other data sets that provide, for which we can see patches in that near shore area, that provide us a little bit more clarity on where." Barnes and the Sargassum Watch System team are working with additional NOAA funding this year to expand their forecasting ability. The Watch System now includes all of the U.S. waters impacted by the Sargassum belt, including the Florida Keys and eastern Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. South Florida beach communities are removing it using industrial equipment as quickly as they can ahead of the summer rush, while others have looked at the biomass as a potential business opportunity. Barnes said he is contacted nearly every day by startups that want to use seaweed for different purposes. "There is biomass there that's coming ashore that can have value for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals and construction materials and biofuels … but you need to get to it quickly, meaning you have to have your stuff staged," Barnes said. "And if there are marine resources that need to be protected, setting out barriers or at least staging equipment to kind of protect the critical infrastructure, critical resources, is the reason to make that step and make some forecast of where a particular inundation might happen." Download The Free Fox Weather App Barnes said the seaweed forecasting outlook is attracting attention from many different stakeholders, including fisheries, tourism groups, local governments and even the Mexican Navy. Still, for average beachgoers, seaweed is mostly an annoyance and not a major health threat. Some with respiratory issues may have an adverse response, but it's not as severe as red tide, another issue plaguing Florida's coastal communities. There is also a concern about arsenic in the seaweed tissue, so it's not advised to handle it. "For most people, it's just smelly," Barnes article source: Florida, Caribbean beaches could be choked out by record levels of Sargassum seaweed this summer
