Olympic nightmare: A red tide in the Yellow Sea *
Posted on 01 July 2008 by Jack
BEIJING: With less than six weeks before it plays host to the Olympic sailing regatta, the city of Qingdao has mobilized thousands of people and an armada of small boats to clean up an algae bloom that is choking large stretches of the coastline and threatening to impede the Olympic competition.
Local officials have initiated an all-out effort to clean up the algae by mid-July. Media reports estimate that as many as 20,000 people have either volunteered or been ordered to participate in the operation, while 1,000 boats are scooping algae out of the Yellow Sea. The official news agency, Xinhua, reported that algae currently covered a third of the coastal waters designated for the Olympic races.
Water quality has been a concern for the sailing events, given that many coastal Chinese cities dump untreated sewage into the sea. At the same time, rivers and tributaries emptying into coastal waters are often contaminated with high levels of nitrates from agricultural and industrial runoff. These nitrates contribute to the red tides of algae that often bloom along sections of China’s coastline.
But officials in Qingdao said pollution and poor water quality did not have a “substantial link” to the current outbreak, according to Xinhua. Instead, scientists blamed the bloom on increased rainfall and warmer waters in the Yellow Sea. Algae are now blooming over more than 12,900 square kilometers, or 5,000 square miles, of the sea, according to Xinhua.
Note: It’s now 4:18 pm and the rest of the day is mine. I hope everyone has had a fine “Dominion Day” and all are safe. I will add that I updated an old video a few minutes ago (Something in the air tonight) because it felt right. There IS something in the air tonight as Canada celebrates another birthday. Times are changing and we all know who we have to thank for that.
Goodnight.
Popularity: 20% [?]
July 1st, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Nasty looking indeed, but this green shift in the waters of China has a yet unrealized benefit - video technology can use the green background like a green screen to overlay advertising during broadcasts of Olympic sailing (or is it summer sledding?). If this particular shade of green is not yet named, I hereby claim the right to label it. Let it hereinafter be known as “Kyoto Green”.
For instance, the CBC could just come right out and use the green shift in the water as a background for a video overlay, similar to that used in football broadcasts, or cricket matches, to tell us in simple terms what they try to tell us in convoluted terms every night on their “news” cast: “Vote Liberal”.
July 1st, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I think that China will have huge problems with the Olympics even being able to hold events. Kyoto Green works for me.
July 1st, 2008 at 9:58 pm
They’ll be harvesting that polluted sh#% and putting it into food products for export worldwide!
July 1st, 2008 at 11:42 pm
I was happy with Dominion Day. Too bad Trudeau, with his hatred of the monarchy, had to change the name to Canada Day in 1982.
As much as it’s sad to watch the unfolding spectacle in Beijing, the Olympic movement chose China and now they must undergo the consequences of their choice.