Devastating toxic algae bloom plagues Florida’s Gulf Coast

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Devastating toxic algae bloom plagues Florida’s Gulf Coast

Postby seemslikeadream » Mon Aug 13, 2018 9:20 am

Devastating toxic algae bloom plagues Florida’s Gulf Coast

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BY TAMARA LUSH
Associated Press

August 13, 2018 01:05 AM
Updated 8 hours 12 minutes ago
LONGBOAT KEY, FLA.
Tons of dead fish. A smell so awful you gag with one inhale. Empty beaches, empty roads, empty restaurants.

A toxic algae bloom has overrun Florida's southern Gulf Coast this summer, devastating sea life and driving people from the water.

"I've never seen it this bad," said 31-year-old Heather Lamb of Venice. She's a hairdresser and makeup artist who styled herself as a dead mermaid and posted photos on social media to raise awareness of the problem. "I feel like it cleanses your soul to go to the beach. For me to not be able to go, it's painful. I think a lot of people take for granted when they live in Florida. Some people save their paychecks for a whole year to come here."

Red tide — a naturally occurring toxic algae bloom that can be harmful to people with respiratory problems— has spread throughout the Gulf of Mexico, drifting in the water since it began in October. Stretching about 150 miles (240 kilometers), it's affecting communities from Naples in the south to Anna Maria Island in the north and appears to be moving northward.

The algae turns the water toxic for marine life, and in recent weeks beachgoers have been horrified to find turtles, large fish like goliath grouper and even manatees wash up dead. In late July, a 26-foot long (8-meter-long) whale shark washed ashore on Sanibel Island, which is known for its pristine beaches. In places like Longboat Key, more than 5 tons of dead fish have been removed from beaches. This week, nine dead dolphins were found in Sarasota County, and marine biologists are investigating whether the deaths are related to red tide.

The Florida Wildlife Research Institute says the number of dead and stranded sea turtles is nearly three times higher than average. More than 450 stranded and dead sea turtles have been recovered in four affected counties this year, and the institute estimates that 250 to 300 died from red tide poisoning.

In Bradenton Beach, the stench was impossible to ignore.

"I can't describe the smell. It's like unbelievable. It makes you throw up," said Holmes Beach resident Alex Kuizon, who has lived in the area for decades. He held a handkerchief over his mouth and nose while talking to a reporter. Just a few feet away, hundreds of dead fish clogged a boat ramp.

Red tide is a natural occurrence that happens due to the presence of nutrients in the water and an organism called a dinoflagellate.

"Off the west coast of Florida, we have persistent red tide events that occur with some frequency," said Steve Murawski, a marine science professor at the University of South Florida.

Another algae problem plagues Florida's waterways, Murawski said, and confused and frustrated people are conflating the two. Blue-green algae affect freshwater, and Murawski said it has a direct correlation to agricultural and urban runoff.

Heavy May rains caused Lake Okeechobee to discharge water containing blue-green algae into rivers and canals. The bright green sludge oozed onto docks, dams and rivers.

"Are they in fact related? That's kind of an open scientific question," Murawski said. "If you've got large nitrogen discharges, you could actually be fueling both the harmful algal bloom and the discharge of the blue-green algae. It's an area of very active concern."

Why this year's red tide is so intense is up for debate. Some researchers have noticed aggressive blooms after hurricanes; Irma swept past Florida's Gulf Coast in the summer of 2017 and a period of red tide affected Florida after the powerful 2004-2005 hurricanes.

Regardless, those who live, work and play in the area are disturbed.

"We get a lot of Europeans this time of year and even people from the Midwest are still coming down because school hasn't started yet. They come here and they're like, 'Oh my goodness, what's this smell? It's awful,'" said Anthony Cucci, the manager of the Mar Vista restaurant on Longboat Key. As he spoke, a worker cleared away dead fish littering the small beach near the patio.

For Charlotte County resident Magdalena Rossip, Saturday was her birthday, when she usually goes to the beach to celebrate. This year, she didn't.

It was too depressing — her family's pressure washing business has dried up because no one wants to use their boat or patio.

"It's catastrophic," the 35-year-old said.

Although this isn't peak tourist season for the Gulf Coast — that's in winter — red tide is affecting tourism.

"I'm pretty surprised, because I usually meet my family down here once a year and it's usually completely different. The water's usually much clearer than it has been today," said Brandon Mullis of Tampa, building a sandcastle with his daughter on Bradenton Beach.

The smell wasn't bad on that part of the beach, but he said he wasn't planning to stay long — and would choose his resort pool over swimming in the Gulf.

In this Monday Aug. 6, 2018 photo, work crews clean up dead fish along Coquina Beach in Bradenton Beach, Fla. From Naples in Southwest Florida, about 135 miles north, beach communities along the Gulf coast have been plagued with red tide. Normally crystal clear water is murky, and the smell of dead fish permeates the air In this Monday Aug. 6, 2018 photo, Alex Kuizon covers his face as he stands near dead fish at a boat ramp in Bradenton Beach, Fla. From Naples in Southwest Florida, about 135 miles north, beach communities along the Gulf coast have been plagued with red tide. Normally crystal clear water is murky, and the smell of dead fish permeates the air

In this Monday Aug. 6, 2018 photo, work crew clean up dead fish on Coquina Beach in Bradenton Beach, Fla. From Naples in Southwest Florida, about 135 miles north, beach communities along the Gulf coast have been plagued with red tide. Normally crystal clear water is murky, and the smell of dead fish permeates the air In this Monday Aug. 6, 2018 photo, a dead Snook is shown along the water’s edge in Bradenton Beach, Fla. From Naples in Southwest Florida, about 135 miles north, beach communities along the Gulf coast have been plagued with red tide. Normally crystal clear water is murky, and the smell of dead fish permeates the air In this Monday Aug. 6, 2018 photo, work crews clean up dead fish along Coquina Beach in Bradenton Beach, Fla. From Naples in Southwest Florida, about 135 miles north, beach communities along the Gulf coast have been plagued with red tide. Normally crystal clear water is murky, and the smell of dead fish permeates the air

In this Monday Aug. 6, 2018 photo, Alex Kuizon covers his face as he stands near dead fish at a boat ramp in Bradenton Beach, Fla. From Naples in Southwest Florida, about 135 miles north, beach communities along the Gulf coast have been plagued with red tide. Normally crystal clear water is murky, and the smell of dead fish permeates the air

In this Monday Aug. 6, 2018 photo, Alex Kuizon covers his face as he stands near dead fish at a boat ramp in Bradenton Beach, Fla. From Naples in Southwest Florida, about 135 miles north, beach communities along the Gulf coast have been plagued with red tide. Normally crystal clear water is murky, and the smell of dead fish permeates the air Chris O'Meara AP Photo
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Read more here: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/ ... rylink=cpy
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: Devastating toxic algae bloom plagues Florida’s Gulf Coa

Postby seemslikeadream » Mon Aug 13, 2018 10:25 am

AUGUST 11, 2018 | KIRSTY VITARELLI
‘NO FUTURE’ YOUTH TO GET DAY IN COURT — JUST BEFORE MIDTERMS

Our Children’s Trust, Supreme Court

Youth involved in lawsuit against the US seeking generational climate justice. Photo credit: Our Children's Trust / YouTube (Creative Commons Attribution license - reuse allowed)

The Supreme Court has upheld the right of a group of young Americans to sue the federal government over its treatment of the environment. After much stalling by both the Obama and the Trump administrations, the court date is confirmed for the last week in October. A date which could turn out to be bad news for the Trump administration, coming as it does a week before midterm elections.

The young plaintiffs are claiming the government has robbed them of their future, an assertion that, if widely aired, might create dissonance around “family friendly” GOP candidates hoping to retain their majorities in both chambers of Congress this November.

Related: Cities, States, and Kids Sue to Stop Climate Change

This court case is old, unlike the plaintiffs, and has been through a lot. It was originally filed against the Obama Administration in October 2015, by 21 children between the ages of seven and 18 collectively known as Our Children’s Trust.

The Obama administration’s defense was that they were working with other nations to manage climate change, which made the plaintiff’s charges less sticky. Despite this, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the case, which the government then appealed.

The litigation took on renewed vigor when self-proclaimed climate change denier Donald Trump moved into the White House, hired the now-disgraced Scott Pruitt to be his head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and pulled out of the Paris climate accord. This change in policy negated the previous administration’s defense that it was cooperating on finding ways to lessen climate change, and strengthened the plaintiffs’ case that their futures were being endangered.

Related: Youths Suing US Gov’t on Climate Change to Get Day in Court

The current administration has pulled out all the stops to try to halt this case in its tracks. The last attempt was a counter-writ of mandamus — an unusual, rarely used legal maneuver. A writ of mandamus is essentially a higher court instructing a lower court (or other government body) to either hurry up and do its job, or to stop exceeding its powers.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Trump administration’s counter-writ on March 7, ruling it “drastic and extraordinary.” The federal government appealed, and the case was taken all the way up to the Supreme Court. It unanimously ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on July 30, and decreed that they will indeed have their day in court.

After all the legal back and forth and the countless thousands of dollars this must have cost, the initial judgment of US District Judge Ann Aiken from October 2016 has been upheld. She ruled that “the right to a climate system capable of sustaining human life is fundamental to a free and ordered society.”

Images of poised young people criticizing the federal government are becoming more commonplace. The mobilization of the eloquent Parkland school shooting survivors has been a media phenomenon, and the desire of younger people to become active in defiance of government negligence has gathered pace since the new administration took control in January 2017.

This will be a difficult news story for GOP politicians to explain away to newly minted voters — the plaintiffs’ peers — and their parents and grandparents, when asking for their votes during the last few days before the midterms.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dvL0VxBHNw


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaHDNTVMiek
https://whowhatwhy.org/2018/08/11/no-fu ... -midterms/
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: Devastating toxic algae bloom plagues Florida’s Gulf Coa

Postby seemslikeadream » Tue Aug 14, 2018 4:12 pm

The Governor of Florida guy in the WH does not believe in climate change ....so don't know why he would be declaring a state of emergency


State of emergency declared in Florida amid toxic red tide outbreak on Gulf coast


VIDEO: The beaches of Siesta Key are full of dead fish and county crews conducting cleanup efforts.WFTS
WATCH Red tide, toxic algae spark health warnings

The Governor of Florida issued a state of emergency in response to this year’s excessive red tide, the toxic algae bloom spreading across the West Coast of the Sunshine State and leaving beaches covered with piles of dead marine wildlife.

"I am issuing an emergency declaration to provide significant funding and resources to the communities experiencing red tide so we can combat its terrible impacts," said Governor Rick Scott in a statement on Monday.

The executive order issued by Scott will make additional biologists and scientists available to assist with clean-up and animal rescue efforts.

Two hours south of Tampa in Lee County, where red tide signs have been posted at more than 170 beach access points, the state will allocate additional funds for cleaning the beaches.

"I am also directing a further $900,000 in grants for Lee County to clean up impacts related to red tide –- bringing total red tide grant funding for Lee County to more than $1.3 million," Scott said.

PHOTO: A dead Snook is shown along the waters edge in Bradenton Beach, Fla., Aug. 6, 2018.Chris OMeara/AP
A dead Snook is shown along the water's edge in Bradenton Beach, Fla., Aug. 6, 2018.
Toxic red tide blooms are creeping up Florida's west coast, killing marine life and irritating humans
Other counties in the state that have been directly affected include Collier, Charlotte, Sarasota, Manatee, Hillsborough and Pinellas.

The state will also allocate $500,000 to assist local tourism boards, so that "communities continue to bring in the visitors that support so many Florida families and businesses."

"Red tide" refers to the natural phenomenon of toxic algae blooms and resulting wildlife die-off that has occurred many times along Florida's coasts. The first recorded instances was in the 1840s, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.

The blooms discolor the seawater and produce toxins that can sicken or kill fish, seabirds, turtles and marine mammals, such as manatees, according to the FWC. The animals can inhale the toxins through the air or become affected by consuming toxic prey. Piles of dead fish have been found along the West Coast of Florida.

PHOTO: Dead fish line the shoreline along the Sanibel causeway after dying in a red tide, Aug. 1, 2018 in Sanibel, Fla.Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Dead fish line the shoreline along the Sanibel causeway after dying in a red tide, Aug. 1, 2018 in Sanibel, Fla.
Since 2017, higher than normal concentrations of the algae blooms have plagued southwest Florida. Part of the reason why red tide is so prominent this season is because there are some leftover blooms from last year, Bob Weisberg, a professor of physical oceanography at the University of South Florida's College of Marine Science, told ABC News.

In humans, red tide can cause respiratory irritation, Weisberg said, but it's usually temporary unless the person suffers from severe or chronic respiratory conditions, such as asthma or chronic lung disease.

Most people aren't affected by swimming in red tide-infested waters, but skin irritation may occur. The FWC recommends that swimmers rinse with fresh water if they experience irritation.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/state-emergen ... d=57164849
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
User avatar
seemslikeadream
 
Posts: 32090
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:28 pm
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