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A Blanket of Seaweed Smothers Coastlines From the Caribbean to Mexico
Federal officials are preparing a revised response as 119,000 tons of sargassum threaten Quintana Roo beaches and drive up cleanup costs.
- On Thursday, Mexico announced a $115 million investment to combat record sargassum levels on its Caribbean coastline, though current resources allow collecting only 1,200 tons daily against up to 9,000 tons reaching shores.
- Record-Breaking sargassum blooms in the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt reached 27 million metric tons in July, driven by warming waters, nutrient pollution, and ocean circulation patterns affecting the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.
- In Quintana Roo, environmental officials expect 119,000 tons of seaweed to wash ashore by year's end, with managing the algae consuming roughly 11% of the state's GDP, or about $2 billion annually.
- Dozens of beaches in Quintana Roo have been placed on red alert, with some closing entirely as decomposing sargassum releases hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas causing nausea, headaches and respiratory irritation.
- Satellite monitoring reveals the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt will not disappear anytime soon; experts advocate connecting satellite observations with targeted intervention strategies to manage the unprecedented seaweed threat effectively.
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32 Articles
32 Articles
PBS NewsHourReposted by 
BizToc
BizTocHuge blankets of seaweed are smothering coastlines from the Caribbean to Mexico
Some 27 million metric tons of self-sustaining sargassum have been recorded in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in July, according to a report released Friday by the University of South Florida’s Optical Oceanography Lab.
·Arlington, United States
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Associated Press News+16 Reposted by 16 other sources
A blanket of seaweed smothers coastlines from the Caribbean to Mexico
Swaths of sargassum are blanketing the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, suffocating shorelines and snuffing out marine life while spooking visitors in areas that depend heavily on tourism.
·New York, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources32
Leaning Left10Leaning Right7Center12Last UpdatedBias Distribution41% Center
Bias Distribution
- 41% of the sources are Center
41% Center
L 35%
C 41%
R 24%
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