Journalistic Intentions Writings

Algae Bloom

Reference:

https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/priority-landscapes/gulf-of-...

definitions for eutrophication from Bing.

by Judithd (Apondia)

Algae Bloom

Did you ever read an article that made you say, Huh? I looked up the definition of one word used in an article about Algae Bloom. Now, I have a good picture in my brain about exactly why algae blooms are bad, what causes them, and even if I have ever seen one?

Yes. I have seen one. One time several years ago in the back yard of someone I knew there was a algae bloom on a large pond. It looked bad, heavy floating green clumps, and had a toxic smell.

The word I looked up was eutrophication.

1. My definition made up from many others: Eutrophication is excess nutrients in a body of water. The definition of eutrophication led me to defining each interesting word I found in the paragraph about eutrophication. That led me to very specific information with each step I took. At the end, I had a better picture of why runoff pollutes, why algae blooms are bad for water ways, what algae is and is not, and what an algae bloom looks like so, I can identify one.

2. Then I defined nutrients: Excess phosphorus and nitrogen. These were found in streams, rivers, and oceans because of flooding waters, which create run off of land into bodies of water. Bodies of water have phosphorus and nitrogen. It is when these bodies of water become saturated with excess phosphorus and nitrogen that problems begin.

3. Where did the excess phosphorus and nitrogen come from? Water is able to dissolve almost anything. If you put chemicals, plastics, paper, cardboard, animal waste in water ways. It will stay there until it dissolves or someone takes it out. As it breaks, up fish swallow some of it. The nitrogen and phosphorus steal oxygen our of the water. The chemicals invade the water molecules. Animals and humans who drink it or eat the fish and other water creatures become affected by the unsafe water.

Nothing on the earth ever goes away it just changes. Violent crime and war kill fewer people every year, than unsafe water.

4. What is algae? Algae is a celled organism, that is not a plant, animal, or fungus. So, it is a protist. Protists can be like plants, animals, or fungus and carry DNA. Algae is plant like in its' makeup. So, it is a plant protist.

5. When the excesses are right, algae increases rapidly causing an algae bloom.

It can have color. Blue-green, green, red, or brown are the most common.

Warmer temperatures cause algae to grow very fast. One of the mixes causing algae blooms is planet warming combined with excess phosphorus and nitrogen in a particular body or part of a body of water.

Excess phosphorus is likely to cause blooms in fresh water. Marine bodies of water will find excess nitrogen combined with the phosphorus causing algae blooms.

A bloom will have heavy looking clumps, scum, or foam floating on the skin of the water body.

To sum it up, we are talking about the destruction of ecosystems.

Destruction of diversity of species in specific bodies of water. Diversity means many different types of species. Think of it this way. instead of 20 different kinds of fish in a lake you might find 3.

Algae Blooms cause possible disease bearing organisms and bacteria in water bodies. Spreading tumors, cancer, respiratory illness is a really bad thought.

THE END

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