Algal Blooms - Explore the factors contributing to harmful algal blooms and their impact on marine life and human health

Algal bloom is harmful because

Why are algae blooms (overproduction of producers due to too much nitrogen) bad?  Select all that applyReduce sunlight to aquatic life belowIt makes the other aquatic life grow too big because of all the nitrogen.When they decompose they use up a lot of dissolved oxygen in the water which is harmful to aquatic life that needs the oxygen

For many years, scientists believed that runoff from commercial farms could cause excessive phytoplankton blooms. In 2005, Stanford University scientists were able to finally prove that theory. Now we have verified the information we need to better protect oceans from human pollution. How does this affect the ocean ecosystem and the human food chain? To answer that, we need to understand how humans interact with the ocean.The ocean ecosystem is more sensitive than it looks. We can see with the naked eye that plants and fish live in a delicate balance. Schools of fish move through the ocean in ways that do not put too much pressure on any one source of food. Different populations are kept in check by both the amount of food available and their predators. We must use scientific methods, however, to see that amounts of tiny molecules like nitrogen and oxygen also have a profound effect on ocean ecosystems.The ocean drives Earths water cycle. All but 3% of the water on Earth is in the ocean. It also strongly influences Earths climate, because much of the Suns heat is absorbed by the ocean. We get many resources from the ocean, such as tuna, shrimp, fish, crab, kelp, and blubber, among many others. The ocean influences all life on Earth. That is why it is very important that we are aware of how we affect ocean systems.Water that travels over the ground and drains into a stream, lake, river, or ocean is called runoff. Most runoff comes from rain, but pollution in the runoff often comes from water that has been used for agricultural purposes. This is water that has been used to irrigate the plants that farmers grow. Sometimes this water can collect contaminants from the ground as it rolls downhill. These contaminants can include lead, nitrogen, and phosphorus. Nitrogen is a chemical element that many farmers use to increase crop yields. It is the active ingredient in manure and many other plant fertilizers. Unfortunately, it has the same effect on ocean plants. This introduction of additional plant fertilizer into the ocean changes the balance of ocean plant growth. This can have serious consequences for ocean wildlife.Phytoplankton are microscopic algae that live in the ocean. Phytoplankton form the base of the aquatic food chain. Thousands of marine organisms rely on phytoplankton for food. Individually they are too small to be seen. They can be easily seen as a green color in the water when millions of phytoplankton are together. The chlorophyll in their bodies causes the green color. When phytoplankton quickly increase in numbers, these large concentrations of them are called algal blooms. Algal blooms have been happening naturally since man has been recording observations about the ocean. However, we have now begun to understand the relationship between contaminated runoff and ocean algal blooms.Algal blooms can cause hypoxic (low-oxygen) areas in waters. As the short-lived algae die, oxygen is taken from the water to help bacteria decompose their bodies. Hypoxic areas, or dead zones, are places where most oxygen dependent life forms cannot live. Dead zones can cause fish kills and other events where large numbers of marine organisms die.The scientists at Stanford University were the first to prove the connection between nitrogen in runoff water and algal blooms. They studied aerial photos of the Gulf of California. The land surrounding the Gulf of California is used heavily for agriculture. Hundreds of thousands of acres are used as farm land. Farmers fertilize these farms four times per year. They spray their crops with a nitrogen-based fertilizer. The fertilizer collects in the runoff and drains into the ocean. The researchers discovered that there was always an algal bloom within days of this fertilization cycle.Algal blooms can cause major problems for both aquatic life and commercial fisheries. It is important to understand how humans can causeand preventabnormally concentrated algal blooms.QUESTION 1Which is the most likely meaning for the phrase naked eyein paragraph 2?OPTIONSeyes without glasses eyes without magnifying devices eyes without clothes eyes without eyelashes

Which of the following is main cause of fish killing in ponds a.pHb.DOc.All d.Algal Bloom

The overgrowth of algae poses a major problem for coral reefs. Intensive fishing is one factor that contributes to algae overgrowth because it does which of the following?Ask Studybuddy (Login to use)Group of answer choicesAllows more sunlight to be available to algaeInhibits the spread of pathogens in algae coloniesReduces the number of organisms that feed on algaeIncreases the competition between different algae species