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Posted: October 28th, 2023
Increase in Harmful Algal Bloom Deaths and Sickness from Global Warming
Introduction
The rate of deadly global harmful algal blooms (habs) is increasing worldwide at an alarming rate due to climate change. Climate change is increasing favorable habitat that favors rapid hab growth. Climate change also increases hab range into the upper latitudes from el nino events and warm water currents. This increase in the habitat and increase in range increases exposure to humans. This increase exposure from harmful algal blooms from climate change has led to increased sickness and death in humans. Humans are susceptible and can get poisoned which can lead to death. It is important to look at this issue since it will only get worse, as climate change affects will produces more habs and increased range as time moves on. Since climate change is increasing human deaths and sicknesses from habs. I want to compare climate changes influence on hab increase, to increased reports of sicknesses and deaths of humans. That way we can thoroughly look at each climate change affect in detail and see why these affects are increasing reports of sicknesses and deaths.
Increased harmful algal blooms have occurred from global atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides increasing substantially as a result of human activities. These increase in green house concentrations is affecting the ocean by increasing the amount of Co2 that is entering the ocean causing acidification, enhancing surface stratification and limiting vertical mixing, and increasing the duration of growth periods just to name a few. Climate change increases how early and how long habs occur. The longer duration of habs increase their frequency allowing them to get to larger longer lasting blooms. Climate change also causes enhancing surface stratification and reduced vertical mixing which will limit nutrient supply to the surface. Which increases habs because the majority of them are dinoflagellates. Which means they can swim to areas of increased nutrients rather than non-toxic species which can only drift. This will increase habs as non-toxic species will decrease due to decreased nutrients. Increased atmospheric Co2 leading to lower ph favors non-calcareous plankton which are a majority of hab species. Since lower ph would mean a much harder survival for calcareous plankton from their shells getting dissolved. This lower ph would cause a rapid increase in hab blooms due to them not being af affected by lower ph.
The increased frequency of habs can only lead to the increased contact with humans. Global warming has been linked to causing habs to proliferate longer and spread out farther. Areas where these climate change increased habs occur it has been recorded that Er admittance has gone up in the bloom area. From more swimmers coming into contact with habs and breathing in habs. Overall reported illnesses and deaths resulting from habs has increased. With small outbreaks sickening hundreds in the past. To now reports of 60,000 intoxications every year. Also, with increased frequency of habs, increased reports of contaminated seafood has risen. With increased habs from climate change occurring near important fishing ecosystems. Reports of people who consume these finfish and shellfish become intoxicated or even die has risen.
The word “Harmful” is used to describe these algal blooms which can cause a range of damaging effects (Smayda 1997). Harmful algal blooms produce deadly natural toxins that accumulate in finfish and shellfish. When these finfish and shellfish are consumed by humans it can cause illness or death. These toxins produced by hab species are generally tasteless and odorless. The most frequent illness associated with habs are paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), and diarrectic shellfish poisoning (DSP) (Marques Nunes Moore 2010). The main two groups of habs responsible for hab related illnesses and deaths are dinoflagellates and diatoms. With the majority being dinoflagellates, these dinoflagellates possess two whip like flagella which makes them able to swim. Unlike diatoms which are drifters, this swimming ability gives them an advantage over non-swimming phytoplankton groups. This swimming ability is an important factor when evaluating their potential response to future climate change.
Analysis
The ocean is changing from climate change making it favorable for increased frequency of habs. This increase in frequency of habs is found to create increased illnesses and even death from habs. Habs are composed of only a small amount of the entire phytoplankton community however, there responses to climate variation can differ from the rest of the phytoplankton community. Making them great at adapting to climate change and in particular global warming. Global warming is caused by greenhouse gases accumulating in our atmosphere, from increased human fossil fuel burning. This accumulation of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere is reflecting the suns heat and causing the earth to warm. This will cause global surface warming to (about 0.2 °C per decade) speed up in the coming decades. In fact, the planet may be warmer than any point in the past million years (Hansen et al 2006).
This warming of the surface is a major advantage to a hab, in that it enhances surface stratification which habs thrive in (Soloman et al 2007). Surface stratification is natural stratification caused by the varying density layers in the ocean. However, there are studies that state warmer upper ocean temperatures predicted in future climate change, will increase surface stratification of the water column, therefore differently influencing different types of phytoplankton ( Behrenfeld et al 2006). In areas of the mid latitudes and tropic thermally stratified oceans, increases in stratification and reduced vertical mixing will decrease nutrient supply to the surface, causing reductions in the growth of phytoplankton and their biomass (Doney 2006). These areas will have very little if zero nutrient mixing making the stratified layers very stagnant. Stagnate stratified layers are perfect for the majority of habs which are dinoflagellates. These dinoflagellates can adjust their position by swimming with their flagella in the water column to swim to lower more nutrient rich surface layers. This advantage lets habs flourish in climate change induced thermally stratified layers. While non-toxic species which are drifters cannot adjust to decreased in nutrients at the surface layer and decrease due to nutrient loss.
This increase in habs in stratified waters increases the chance of human health effects such as illnesses and deaths. With increased ocean surface temperature continuing to rise stratification is going to become more common. With stratification increasing habs survival over non-toxic species of phytoplankton, it’s going to increase which phytoplankton shellfish and filter feeders consume. This increased bioaccumulation of habs in shellfish and finfish caused by stratification of the ocean will lead to more humans eating contaminated seafood. ( Dolah 2000 ) With this influx of contaminated seafood increasing because of hab increase, human illness will also increase.
Another way that climate change is increasing the frequency of habs is in the duration of when habs occur. Statistical analysis of the biological effects of recent climate fluctuations has revealed changes of the shifts in timing of seasonal occurrences of various species relating to changes in climatic conditions, altering formerly synchronized interactions between the species, and between the life cycles of individual organisms and their environment (Visser et al 1998). These studies show climate change influencing seasons and making them longer and start earlier. Thus, effecting when certain species optimal living conditions to breed and look for food increase resulting in the population lasting longer.
For example, the planktonic dinoflagellate Alexndrium cantenella commonly associated with paralytic shellfish poisoning. Is increasing in frequency because of climate change affecting growth durations of the hab. For this dinoflagellate 13oC or greater water temperatures have been found to promote catenella blooms (Nishitani Chew 2003), and in Pugent Sound (Washington State), in the late summer and early fall shellfish toxicity occurs when the temperature of the water reach their seasonal maximum (Moore et al 2009). In the year 2100, surface air temperatures in Pugent Sound is going to have a 6oC increase. With Pugent Sound relation between air and water temperatures, water temperatures exceeding 13oC will expand greatly. In the year 2100 ten months of 13OC water will be the normal. Compared to three months 13OC water found now, this increase in Alexndrium cantenella increases their growing time which increases their frequency.
With a longer duration of habs leads to an increased chance in contact of humans with these habs. Which the studies shown above that habs affected by climate change are increasing their duration. Increased duration could only lead to more bio accumulation in shellfish and finfish since the chance of predation of hab species grows higher. Compared to when the habs had a shorter duration the chance of contaminated seafood from bioaccumulation would decrease. Simplify because with the less chance of habs being there because of the shorter duration. Also, the chance of human coming into contact with a hab increases. This increase occurs because of the time a possible human and hab could interact increases. Rather than before where the shorter regular duration there was less of a chance of contact ( Nishitani Chew 2003).
References
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