"Bobchai" > wrote in message
...


Has anyone read about the piles of decomposing algae on the French
beaches of Brittany this summer? They are deadly. Farmers are using
too much nitrogen fertilizer, and the runoff from rain is causing
enormous algae blooms off the beaches, and when the algae is washed
ashore, it forms piles which release enormous quantities of hydrogen
sulfide gas (H2S), which has actually killed several people.
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The death of one horse has been blamed on the decomposing seaweed but
AFAIAA, no humans have died.

Environmentalists (who are rarely good scientisits, IME, and who are fond of
hyperbole) have blamed it on intensive livestock operations in Brittany,
not overuse of fertilisers.

However, one has to be careful of media hype. 35 years ago, the
eutropification of Lake Michigan was blamed on farmers using too much
fertiliser. However, it was pointed out that the population along the
shores of the lake had increased greatly during the century and human sewage
was at least equally the cause - but that didn't get much coverage.
Graham