NY HARBOR NATURE
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Welcome to NY Harbor

Global Warming Making Oceans More Toxic

5/13/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
​​NASA satellite imagery from 2015 shows massive algal bloom in the Atlantic Ocean near New York Harbor and along the Jersey Shore and south shore of Long Island.​​
From: Stony Brook University 
Published April 25, 2017 07:15 AM
Ocean warming since the 1980s is linked to the spread of toxic algae, according to a newly published study led by Dr. Christopher Gobler, marine science professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook University.

Climate change is predicted to cause a series of maladies for world oceans including heating up, acidification, and the loss of oxygen.  The study, published online in the April 24 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and entitled, “Ocean warming since 1982 has expanded the niche of toxic algal blooms in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans,” demonstrates that one ocean consequence of climate change that has already occurred is the spread and intensification of toxic algae.

A team of scientists led Dr. Gobler used high-resolution ocean temperature data along with the growth response of two of the most toxic algae in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans called Alexandrium and Dinophysis. Their study demonstrates that since 1982, broad stretches of these ocean basins have warmed and become significantly more hospitable to these algae and that new ‘blooms’ of these algae have become common in these same regions. Alexandriumand Dinophysis present serious health concerns as they make neurotoxins and gastrointestinal toxins that can cause paralytic and diarrhetic shellfish poisoning in humans.

“Toxic or harmful algal blooms are not a new phenomenon, although many people may know them by other names such as red tides,” said Gobler. “These events can sicken or kill people who consume toxin-contaminated shellfish and can damage marine ecosystems by killing fish and other marine life.”

The problem is worsening.
Continue Reading
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    STOP THE WILLIAMS FRACKED GAS PIPELINE THROUGH NY HARBOR!
    MY TOP 5 FAVORITE BOOKS ABOUT NY HARBOR

    1. Field Guide to the Neighborhood Birds of New York City by Leslie Day

    2.Heartbeats in the Muck by John Waldman

    3. The Fisheries of Raritan Bay by Clyde L. MacKenzie Jr. 

    4. Waterfront: A Walk Around Manhattan by Phillip Lopate

    5. The Bottom of the Harbor by Joseph Mitchell
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Welcome to NY Harbor