Posted by msblucow on May 09, 2003 at 14:42:57:
In Reply to: Re: nope, sorry, I don't know.... posted by babbling ass on May 09, 2003 at 13:19:06:
but your facts are all wrong.....
The paragraph that you quoted dealt with coral reefs, and while uncontrolled algae growth due to massive urban runoff is a real threat to those areas, it has almost nothing to do with us.
The current "red tide" algae bloom we are experiencing now is a reoccuring, but unpredictable event that may, or may not be tied to coastal runoff. Here in SoCal we don't experience the kind of algae growth that smothers coral reefs. Instead, we suffer from silt build ups that can inhibit kelp growth and urban runoff that contains high bacterial counts and heavy metals which makes it's way into the food chain (which is why you'll never see me with a fishing pole in the Santa Monica Bay;-) There's also some speculation that it's contributing to the early death of sea otters since they typically dine on filter-feeding shellfish (not to mention a rapant spread of feline diseases that can only come from cat poop).
So yes, there's definatley a problem, but not the one you pulled your quote from. If you're so interested in this stuff, why not start volunteering for OC or Santa Monica Bay Coast Keepers? They'll teach you more than you'd ever want to know about this stuff, plus you'd start doing some real work for the environment.