Using ecological forecasting, NOAA is able to predict changes in ecosystems in response to HABs and other environmental drivers. Many of the marine species that live in these areas either die or, if they are mobile (such as fish), leave the area. When large amounts of algae sink and decompose in the water, the decomposition process consumes oxygen and depletes the supply available to healthy marine life. Excess nutrients entering a body of water, either through natural or human activities, can also result in hypoxia or dead zones. Harmful algal blooms (HABs), also known as “ red tides,” grow rapidly and produce toxic effects that can affect marine life and sometimes even humans. However, if they are too abundant in a body of water, they can stimulate an overgrowth of algae, triggering an event called an algal bloom. For example, the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus are essential elements for plant growth. Sometimes it is not the type of material, but its concentration that determines whether a substance is a pollutant. Nutrients and algal blooms: Too much of a good thing? About the education resource collections.NOAA Sea to Sky: Education resource database.
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