The weight of the object is 20 million tons.
A clump of seaweed is moving to Florida, which could lead to an ecological disaster.
It is reported by Science Alert.
The “Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt” is a giant kelp bloom stretching from the coast of West Africa all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. According to experts, this is the most massive seaweed bloom on Earth.
Seaweed is usually harmless and harmless in nature, but this clot can:
- destroy coastal ecosystems;
- “choke” armed;
- harm wildlife and infrastructure;
- worsen the quality of water and air.
The area of the clot is almost twice the width of the United States. In particular, it stretches for 8,047 kilometers and weighs about 20 million tons.
Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute research professor Brian LaPoint says the situation “does not bode well for the beach season.” The specialist has been studying sargassums for almost forty years, but before that he had never observed a “rotten cover” of such magnitude.
Satellite imagery shows that algae has already covered the beaches of Florida, which is generally recorded no earlier than May. Also, a large accumulation of sargassum is expected this week on the beaches of Mexico.
Researchers say that the mass of rotting algae is increasing every year. University of South Florida College of Marine Science research assistant professor Brian Barnes said that in 2018 and 2022 the mass of the blob reached its record, but this year the situation can only get worse.
A few years ago, scientists found that the worsening situation with brown algae blooms leads to massive deforestation and the use of fertilizers. In addition, damage is done to the local tourism business, because on the beaches, due to rotting on the shore of the sargassum, there is a “distinct smell of rotten eggs.”
Cursor wrote earlier that the Israelis brought a toad from Thailand, which poses two serious dangers.