Climate Change: Dangerous, Toxic Algae Bloom Stretches from California to Alaska

First Posted: Aug 07, 2015 02:42 PM EDT

An unprecedented bloom of toxic algae that spans the Pacific Coast of the United States and Canada has travelled all the way to Alaska. Now, researchers are studying whether or not climate change is contributing to this unprecedented bloom.

The bloom is actually caused by a patch of abnormally warm water sitting in the Northeast Pacific Ocean for months. It consists of tiny marine plants known as phytoplankton, and is also laced with some toxic species that could threaten local wildlife.

Currently, the bloom stretches 40 miles wide in some places and is as much as 650 feet deep in some locations. This particularly massive bloom has halted fishing in several coastal states. With a slightly brown tinge, this bloom contains high concentrations of the toxin, domoic acid, which can accumulate in small fish and shellfish and make consumption harmful for both people and marine life.

"It's just lurking there," said Vera Trainer, research oceanographer with the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Washington state, in an interview with Reuters on Friday. "It's the longest lasting, highest toxicity and densest bloom that we've ever seen."

Blooms of algae aren't uncommon in the summer. The Gulf of Mexico, in particular, experiences a yearly bloom that fluctuates depending on temperatures and weather; more specifically, it largely depends on how much rain has fallen and how many nutrients have been washed into the Gulf. In the case of the Pacific anomaly, though, it all has to do with the abnormally patch of warm water that has fostered the algae for quite some time now.

It's very possible that this patch of warm water, which is also linked to California's drought, could be caused by climate change. However, research is still ongoing for the moment.

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TagsAlgae Biomass, Algae Bloom, Toxic, Ocean, Warm Ocean, California, Alaska