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How does desert dust from Africa tie in to red tide?

The problem could be coming from thousands of miles away, and across the Atlantic in Africa's Sahara Desert.

Red tide isn’t a new phenomenon to Florida, but a bloom this bad has many people scratching their heads and wondering why this year is different.

Researchers at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg may have a theory.

MORE: Keep up with the latest red tide news and information at wtsp.com/RedTide

The problem could be coming from thousands of miles away, and across the Atlantic in Africa’s Sahara Desert.

The dust blown into the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea is usually a nutrient source for phytoplankton and a fertilizer in the Amazon rainforest. But now, it could be helping the toxic algae blooms.

Doctor Vincent Lovko with Mote Marine Labs explains that it all starts with a plant like bacteria called Trichodesmium, and the way it uses the iron from the dust to process nitrogen.

RELATED: What is red tide?

The reason red tide algae suddenly multiply by the millions and takes over the body of water it’s in is still a mystery to most scientists.

A new study that was partially funded by NASA showed a connecting between the red tide patterns in the Gulf of Mexico and the dust clouds that were blowing across the ocean.

The NASA study found that in June 1999 dust from the Sahara Desert made its way across the ocean and reached the parts of Florida in late July. By October, and after a 300 percent increase of this biologically-accessible nitrogen, a huge bloom of toxic red algae had formed within the study area, an 8,100 square mile region between Tampa Bay and Fort Myers, Florida, the study showed.

The powerful bloom Florida is seeing right now started offshore last November but recently got stronger in the summer months.

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