China Suffers from Green Tide
The rising pace of climate change is rearing its head again, this summer in the northern hemisphere. Incidents seem to be popping up everywhere, but one notable incident is happening in the city of Qingdao in Shandong province. Local authorities have despatched a small fleet in order to deal with an outbreak of “green tide” that is threatening to engulf the coastline. This green algae - the seaweed known as enteromorpha - will release noxious gases if allowed to decompose on the provinces’ beaches. This outbreak - one that currently covers an area of 400 square kilometres, is believed to be the result of increased ocean temperatures from agricultural runoff and the regions numerous fish farms. There are also teams working on shore to collect the mess as it arrives on shore, including an army of people, forklift trucks and lorries. On one day, the engineer in charge of the operation estimated that they had collected 3600 tonnes of material. The tides, an increasing phenomena in densely populated costal communities around the world, are a sign of eutrophication a natural phenomena that happens due to excess nitrogen levels. At low levels it simply creates a mess, but can help to clean the water by removing pollutants. However, at increased density or toxicity levels, it can create dead zones in the ocean by choking the life underneath it. Preventing these outbreaks is a challenge for home energy suppliers and energy saving schemes in the future.
