Cuba is confronted with a serious environmental crisis as huge amounts of sargassum Seaweed floods the eastern coastline of the province of Guantánamo. In response, the Cuban Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment (CITMA) has issued a maximum alert that has removed both environmental and public health risks.
According to an official declaration of the regional delegation of CITMA, the heavy concentration of resolutive Sargassum releases toxic gases such as hydrogen sulfide and ammonia. These emissions can cause irritation of eye, nose and throat, along with headache, nausea, dizziness and respiratory complications – especially in people with asthma or allergies.
The warning also warns of potential skin and gastrointestinal infections, because the rotting seaweed houses harmful bacteria that can spread through direct contact or contaminated water.
Experts link this phenomenon to climate change, which emphasize rising sea temperatures, shifts in ocean flows and wind patterns and nutrients pollution (in particular nitrogen and phosphorus) as important contributing factors.
Local authorities and volunteers – including students and teachers from local medical schools – have made clean -up efforts in affected recreational areas such as Tortuguilla Beach. Nevertheless, the scope of the invasion is great concerns.
Satellite monitoring Has revealed a huge strap of Sargassum that ran over the Atlantic Ocean. Unless spread through weather conditions such as tropical storms, this year’s landing could exceed the record in 2018, when more than 522,000 tons reached the Caribbean.
Communities such as Baracoa, San Antonio del Sur, Baitiquirí and El Guanal already report serious effects, including overwhelming scents, breathing problems, the dying of marine life and corrosion of metal infrastructure. The local fishermen sector and the tourism sector are also threatened, available with little immediate support.
The CITMA has encouraged residents to prevent direct contact with the seaweed and to stay informed through official channels.
Where does the Sargassum come from?
Historically, Sargassum that reached the Caribbean is from the Sargasso -Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean. In recent years, however, scientists have identified a new source: the Great Atlantic Sargassum -Riem, which extends from West -Africa to Brazil.
Fed by ocean currents, trade winds and nutrient -rich drainage of rivers such as the Amazon and Congo, these enormous floating masses travel thousands of kilometers to reach the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
While Cuba is struggling with the growing scale of the invasion, environmental experts warn that this is no longer a seasonal problem, but a structural problem in the long term that requires coordinated international action and urgent mitigation efforts.
Feature Image Credit: periodicocubano.com
