Algae bloom turns Olympic sailing waters green in China

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

BEIJING (AFP) — China's pledge of a "Green Olympics" has taken on a worrying meaning at the sailing-venue city of Qingdao, where an algae bloom has coated the coastline, according to witnesses and Chinese media.

A bright green covering of algae was Friday seen smothering beaches and extending out several hundred metres (yards) into the Yellow Sea off the city, about 550 kilometres (340 miles) southeast of Beijing.

Photos posted on the website of the Shanghai-based Xinmin Evening Post showed bags being filled with the spinach-like growth.

Algae blooms are common in heavily polluted China, particularly in freshwater lakes.

They are mostly caused by the discharge of untreated sewage containing high concentrations of nitrogen, a main ingredient in...