Microalgae and human affairs: Massive increase in knowledge drives changes in perceptions of good and bad blooms
Hallegraeff, G. (2024). Microalgae and human affairs: Massive increase in knowledge drives changes in perceptions of good and bad blooms, in: Hendlin, Y.H. et al. Being algae: Transformations in water, plants. Critical plant studies: philosophy, literature, culture, 8: pp. 175-194. https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004683310_010
In: Hendlin, Y.H. et al. (2024). Being algae: Transformations in water, plants. Critical plant studies: philosophy, literature, culture, 8. Brill: Leiden | Boston. ISBN 978-90-04-68330-3. XX, 329 pp. https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004683310, more
In: Critical plant studies: philosophy, literature, culture. Brill: Leiden. ISSN 2213-0659, more
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| Keywords |
Climate change
Red tides
Marine/Coastal |
| Author keywords |
harmful algal blooms – fish kills – algal biotechnology – origin of life – artforms in nature |
| Abstract |
Algal blooms have been utilised by humans as nutritious food, inspired naturalists with bioluminescent dinoflagellate spectacles, but remain much undervalued by the public as the source of fossil fuels, every second breath of oxygen we inhale, and even the origin of eukaryotic life on our planet. Instead, algal blooms have been increasingly associated by human society with beach health danger and seafood poisoning, signs of nutrient pollution or impending climate change. While the impacts of harmful algal blooms on human society have been increasing, this trend is largely driven by intensified monitoring associated with enhanced aquaculture. Satellite imagery has visualised the global scale of algal bloom phenomena, and newly highlighted their role in driving climate. We demonstrate how our massive increase in knowledge of microalgae has been driving ever changing perceptions of good and bad algal blooms, and recognition of the central role microalgae play on our planet, as well as for our human future. |
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