Global S&T Development Trend Analysis Platform of Resources and Environment
| DOI | 10.1126/science.abl5774 |
| China's algal bloom suffocates marine life | |
| Xiaona Guo; Annah Zhu; Ruishan Chen | |
| 2021-08-13 | |
| 发表期刊 | Science
 |
| 出版年 | 2021 |
| 英文摘要 | Every summer since 2007, algal blooms have grown in China's Yellow Sea ([ 1 ][1]). This year, covering about 1746 km2, the bloom is 2.3 times larger than the country's previous record-holding bloom in 2013 ([ 2 ][2]). Such massive quantities of algae block sunlight from entering the ocean and deplete oxygen levels, suffocating marine life ([ 3 ][3]). The algae also pose challenges for tourism and marine transport. The city of Qingdao has deployed 12,686 boats to clean the water, collecting 457,700 tons of algae by 12 July ([ 2 ][2]). The algae are expected to persist until mid-August ([ 4 ][4]), at enormous economic and biological cost. Mitigating the damage will require regional collaboration.
The massive algae bloom is the result of a complex interaction between excessive coastal use for aquaculture, climate change, and coastal eutrophication. Booming seaweed aquaculture businesses in neighboring Jiangsu province are alleged to be the primary culprit for algal increases ([ 5 ][5]), which are then transported to coastal areas such as Qingdao by ocean currents and wind ([ 6 ][6]). Seaweed aquaculture in Jiangsu has increased by more than an order of magnitude since 2000, resulting in commensurate increases in algae production ([ 7 ][7]). Compounding the trend, warming ocean temperatures favor the growth and expansion of algae; increases in extreme weather events, such as storms, destroy the infrastructure that algal matter attaches to, facilitating its spread to the sea. Meanwhile, coastal eutrophication increases nitrate and phosphate levels, intensifying algal blooms ([ 8 ][8]). Other human uses of the land, including large-scale fisheries, land reclamation, and resource extraction, compete for land in this coastal area, further exacerbating algal production. As increasing eutrophication combines with climate change and human use ([ 9 ][9], [ 10 ][10]), algae blooms will continue to threaten Yellow Sea marine life in the years to come.
Integrated actions are needed to address future algal blooms. Water quality along the coast should be monitored and pollution controlled to reduce eutrophication. An early warning system for algal blooms should be established, including public engagement throughout the algal control process. Moreover, regional coastal and ocean industrial development should be better coordinated under China's marine functional zoning and ecological redline policies, which divide marine areas into different types of basic functional areas and legislate to protect them. This supervision helps guide the development of the marine industry and control the expansion of aquaculture, but coastal and ocean industrial development covers different marine functional areas, requiring increased coordination between provinces ([ 11 ][11]). Finally, an ecological compensation mechanism should be established at the regional level ([ 4 ][4]). Upstream provinces that are the source of the algal blooms, such as Jiangsu province, should compensate downstream provinces that bear the ecological and economic costs, such as Shandong province. Alternatively, downstream provinces should compensate upstream provinces for reducing algal flows to below a certain threshold. Controlling China's algal blooms requires regional collaborative governance to better manage the development of the seaweed industry and its environmental impacts.
1. [↵][12]1. Y. Xiao et al
., Mar. Pollut. Bull. 140, 330 (2019).
[OpenUrl][13]
2. [↵][14]1. F. Yang,
2. Y. Hu
, “Qingdao algal bloom reached the highest value in history, experts say it may exist offshore for a long time,” China News (2021); [www.chinanews.com//sh/shipin/cns/2021/07-19/news895145.shtml][15] [in Chinese].
3. [↵][16]1. S. Dineva
, Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 10.1007/s11356-021-13475-8 (2021).
4. [↵][17]1. X. Chen,
2. C. Wang
, “The algal bloom in Qingdao will last until mid-August, and political consultative committee members call for an ‘international chess game’ to manage it,” Newspaper of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (2021); [www.rmzxb.com.cn/c/2021-07-07/2898577.shtml?n2m=1][18] [in Chinese].
5. [↵][19]1. E. Rees
, “Algal blooms fed by climate change, farm pollution and aquaculture,” China Dialogue (2014); |
| 领域 | 气候变化 ; 资源环境 |
| URL | 查看原文 |
| 引用统计 | |
| 文献类型 | 期刊论文 |
| 条目标识符 | http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/335862 |
| 专题 | 气候变化 资源环境科学 |
| 推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | Xiaona Guo,Annah Zhu,Ruishan Chen. China's algal bloom suffocates marine life[J]. Science,2021. |
| APA | Xiaona Guo,Annah Zhu,&Ruishan Chen.(2021).China's algal bloom suffocates marine life.Science. |
| MLA | Xiaona Guo,et al."China's algal bloom suffocates marine life".Science (2021). |
| 条目包含的文件 | 条目无相关文件。 | |||||
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