Ocean warming since 1982 has expanded the niche of toxic algal blooms in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
• Main Authors: Gobler, Christopher J., Doherty, Owen M., Hattenrath-Lehmann, Theresa K., Griffith, Andrew W., Kang, Yoonja, Litaker, R. Wayne
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: National Academy of Sciences 2017
• Subjects: Biological Sciences; Pacific; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5441705/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28439007; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1619575114

This study used high-resolution (daily, quarter-degree resolution) sea-surface temperature records to model trends in growth rates and bloom-season duration for two of the most toxic and widespread harmful algal bloom species indigenous to the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. Alexandrium fundyense synthesizes saxitoxin and Dinophysis acuminata synthesizes okadaic acid, which cause the human health syndromes paralytic and diarrhetic shellfish poisoning, respectively. The model provided hindcasts of harmful algal bloom (HAB) events that were consistent with in situ observations from long-term monitoring programs during the same time period. This study provides evidence that increasing ocean temperatures have already facilitated the intensification of these, and likely other, HABs and thus contribute to an expanding human health threat.