Algal blooms are rapid, transient increases in algal biomass in aquatic ecosystems, typically driven by nutrient enrichment (especially bioavailable nitrogen and phosphorus), favorable light and temperature conditions, and water column stability. They often involve phytoplankton, including cyanobacteria, diatoms, and dinoflagellates, and can reach densities that markedly alter primary production, oxygen dynamics, and food-web structure. In research, algal blooms are studied as manifestations of eutrophication, with emphasis on nutrient loading thresholds, community succession, and biogeochemical feedbacks. Harmful algal blooms (HABs), a subset, are investigated for toxin production, bloom initiation and termination mechanisms, and impacts on ecosystem services and biogeochemical cycling.
By the beginning of June this year, approximately 38 million tons of Sargassum drifted towards the coasts of the Caribbean islands, the Gulf of Mexico, and northern South America, marking a negative record. Especially during ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 5, 2025
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Beneath the surface of lakes and coastal waters lies a hidden world of sediment that plays a crucial role in the health of aquatic ecosystems. "Benthic fluxes" of nitrogen and phosphorus, such as releases of these dissolved ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 5, 2025
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Researchers at McGill University have identified bacteria that can indicate whether a blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) bloom is likely to be toxic, offering a potential water-safety early warning system. Blooms are becoming ...
Environment
Nov 3, 2025
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The River Wye used to be full of wild salmon. Today it is full of algae.
Environment
Oct 23, 2025
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Despite the pistachio-colored glow and sulfurous odor, the Baltimore harbor continues to improve in water quality year after year—even if swimming right now isn't advisable.
Environment
Oct 13, 2025
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The algal blooms increasingly seen in Canadian lakes have been linked to both nutrient pollution from agricultural runoff and climate change. However, a new Concordia-led study using DNA sequencing of lakebed microbes reveals ...
Environment
Sep 30, 2025
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Over the next two weeks, surfers and beachgoers in Santa Monica may spot waves that have a pink, fluorescent hue—but officials say not to worry.
Environment
Sep 16, 2025
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For the third year running toxic blue-green algae blooms that look like pea soup and smell like rotten eggs have covered much of Lough Neagh, the largest lake in the UK and Ireland.
Environment
Sep 14, 2025
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Amid toxic algal blooms in South Australia and mass fish deaths across the country, a new piece of technology designed by one of Perth's leading marine scientists may hold a solution.
Ecology
Sep 8, 2025
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Some 14,000 years ago, algal blooms in the Southern Ocean helped to massively reduce the global carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere—as has now been revealed by new analyses of ancient DNA published by a team from the ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 29, 2025
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