The earth’s climate is changing and extreme weather events are on the rise. Hurricanes are wreaking havoc with more ferocity, summers are getting warmer and winters colder. But what about our oceans? They, too, are warming.
With the seas’ temperature rise has come an increased frequency of bloom events. These are rapid increases in the abundance of (normally) planktonic species, often associated with seasonal events or climatic phenomena. The duration of a bloom event depends on a number of environmental conditions, including temperature, light and nutrient availability. A well known example is the green algae that struck Qingdao, China during the 2008 Olympic sailing events.
With oceanic temperatures steadily creeping upwards, the general consensus is that such bloom events are on the rise in many areas. Although bloom events can cause significant problems in fisheries, some blooms can prove useful to fishers.
