Page 51 - (DK) I Can’t Believe It! 2

STRANGE BUT TRUE! 49

Despite the fun and frolic
FAST FACTS on the beach at Qingdao in
the eastern Shandong
Single-celled algae need light, Harmful algal
nutrients, and carbon dioxide to province, this thick covering
grow. Each one divides, creating blooms (HABs) of algae stops sunlight and
more algae, which also divide. form where colonies oxygen from penetrating the
of sea-inhabiting
Light water, which suffocates sea
plants, called algae, life. Scientists don’t know
Carbon dioxide develop at a rapid why the tide has turned
rate, causing green, but they agree the
devastation to local carpet of algae comes from an
marine life. In the ecosystem imbalance, and is
right conditions, a probably the result of human
population of algae activity, such as agricultural
can double in hours. and industrial pollution.
Alga Nutrients Algae

More than 8,200 tons
of algae had to be
removed from the
beaches by city officials
using bulldozers.

BRING ON THE BLUES
Electric blue algal blooms
off the coast of Hong Kong
look brilliantly bioluminescent,
but what lies beneath is toxic
pollution. Harmful Noctiluca
scintillans, or sea sparkle, is
flourishing because of excessive
fertilizer and sewage. This
devastates the landscape,
killing local marine life.

US_048_049_309600_Algae_attack.indd 49 19/12/17 12:56 pm