Postcard From China

Note: I will be putting up the Remedy du Jour on Sundays from now on — Dave

---

The bloom is off the rose in China. Their economy is on the ropes because the largest housing bubble of all time is on the verge of collapsing.

But never fear because Summer is here.

And Summer means a trip to the beach!

Postcard from China's public beach in Qingdao, northeast China's Shandong province on July 4, 2013.

The Smithsonian explains what's up in China’s Massive Algae Bloom Could Leave the Ocean’s Water Lifeless.

It’s become an annual affair, the rafts of green algae washing up on the shores of Qingdao, China. Since 2007, massive algae blooms in the Yellow Sea have been fueled, scientists think, by “pollution and increased seaweed farming” south of Qingdao.

The mats of photosynthetic phytoplankton aren’t dangerous to people (unless you count ruining a day at the beach as dangerous), but the return of these massive algae blooms year after year could be troubling for the marine creatures living in the Yellow Sea.

“The carpet on the surface can dramatically change the ecology of the environment beneath it,” says the Guardian. “It blocks sunlight from entering the ocean and sucks oxygen from the water suffocating marine life.”

An algae bloom in the Yellow Sea (2008)

Vast blooms of algae can cause the water to become hypoxic, [meaning] the concentration of oxygen in the water drawn down so low that it makes it uninhabitable for many marine creatures. A strong case of hypoxia can further lead to something called a “dead zone.” 

Such recurring, annual algae blooms like the one in Qingdao aren’t limited to China’s Yellow Sea, either. According to Scientific American, there are at least 405 dead zones around the world. One of the worst in the world is the one in the Gulf of Mexico, where this year researchers with NOAA expect around 8,000 square miles of the Gulf to be oxygen depleted—a patch of ocean about the size of New Jersey, says National Geographic. If the bloom lives up to expectations, this year’s would be the largest dead zone in the Gulf on record.

So while China’s algae problem may be making a mess for swimmers, it’s the life beneath the waves that may be hurting the most.

Thank God! It's only a mess for Chinese swimmers—swimmers?—they're OK.

It's life beneath the "waves" which is taking it in the shorts.

Comments

[Drewriders]

When I first saw this picture i thought it was a lush golf course next to the beach. You would think someone would come up with a process it at least remove it away from large sections of the beach so that swimmers could enjoy it.

I assuming their are no warning signs for swimmers since you can clearly see people out in it.