Rise in algae growth
Hurricane Floyd, which lashed the east coast of the US recently has caused a tremendous growth of algae. Scientists from Carnegie University of Washington have found that the photosynthetic activity of phytoplankton off the coast of North Carolina increased five-fold in the four days after Hurricane Gordon in 1994. "The activity was triggered by nutrients from sediments and deeper waters stirred up by the storm. The influence of the hurricane on mixing reached a depth of 150 metres,' says Russell Cuhel of the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, a member of the team ( Limnology and Oceanography , Vol 44, p1359).