Threat of poisonous algae growing on Great Barrier Reef
The future of the Great Barrier Reef looks increasingly precarious. Researchers in Australia have identified a new threat — not bleaching, but encroaching algae.
Adjust beach replenishment to minimize maritime dead zones
Beach replenishment is an expensive and temporary method of maintaining barrier-island beaches. As the post-Hurricane Sandy rebuilding of all the beaches along New Jersey’s 127-mile Atlantic coast nears completion, an additional potential cost is becoming clear: Replenishment might be creating dead zones on land and at sea.
Increasing factory and auto emissions disrupt natural cycle in East China Sea
China’s rapid ascent to global economic superpower is taking a toll on some of its ancient ways, patterned around the vast fisheries of the East China Sea. But now those waters are increasingly threatened by human-caused, harmful algal blooms that choke off vital fish populations.