The reduction of snow cover in the Himalayas causes the spread of toxic luminous green algae, which can be seen from space. Researchers have said the continued loss of snow over the Himalayan-Tibbetan Plateu region is fuelling Noctiluca’s expansion by making ocean surfaces warmer.
Noctiluca scintillans, known as the “sea sparkle”, which forms thick green curls and threads, is now almost completely lining coastlines around the Arabian Sea.
This resilient millimeter-sized organism that thrives in coastal waters, which has only been seen for another 20 years, has recently spread with alarming speed around India, Pakistan and other countries.
Toxic algae displaces plankton, which supports the food chain of the Arabian Sea, and depletes fish stocks in the region and affects the economy of the surrounding countries, where 150 million people live.
‘This is probably one of the most dramatic changes that we have seen that's related to climate change,’ said Joaquim Goes from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. ‘We are seeing Noctiluca in Southeast Asia, off the coasts of Thailand and Vietnam, and as far south as the Seychelles, and everywhere it blooms it is becoming a problem.’
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