A 5,000-mile-long mass of seaweed is coming to shore. Here's what will happen

[blue-wave]

The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt, a 5,000-mile-long belt of seaweed weighing more than 11 million tons, is threatening to wreak havoc in the coastal waters and beaches of the Atlantic Ocean. It's so big that it can be seen from space, spanning the tropical Atlantic from West Africa to the Caribbean. Oceanographer Ajit Subramaniam joins John Yang to discuss.

[ancianita]

1. Once this hits this summer,

bigger than the U.S., it could turn out to be a huge event for more than just Florida.

Wonder if it means that the Gulf Stream hasn't held it off, or it's the Gulf Stream's diminishing, or if this even will actually stop the Gulf Stream.

It will be whole new problem for the so-called governor. And Mar-a-Lago.

Interesting to see how important science and industry are to them once it surrounds the state.

[Warpy]

2. I've been to Florida in the spring

and it wasn't bad on Atlantic facing beaches at high tide. You could see it in the breaking waves and it was being deposited on the shore, but it wasn't bad to swim with. It's only when it starts to rot at low tide that the stench rises. Or when it washes into creeks, wetlands, and canals. Then it's grim.

It's just one more of many, many reasons my dad could never tempt me to move to Florida.

[FloridaBlues]

3. Forget going to beaches. Newcomers in for big stinky surprise

[ashredux]

4. This sounds more like a sci-fi movie

[Rhiannon12866]

5. Yikes! It certainly does!

I hope that the "snowbirds" we have here in New York head home before it hits...