Facing Climate Change: Tourism hard hit as massive amounts of seaweed wash up and rot on beaches

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The effects of global warming may come in unexpected forms. Across the Caribbean, tons of a brown seaweed are washing ashore. That's causing problems at the region's world-renown tourism resorts. And Mexico, in particular, has been hard hit. CGTN's Franc Contreras reports from the coastal state of Quintana Roo.

Clean-up crews begin early along this part of Mexico's Caribbean coast. State environmental officials say this summer more than three-thousand truckloads of seaweed called Sargassum have been removed from beaches in Quintana Roo.

Tons of this brown algae wash ashore daily. In the tropical heat, it quickly rots producing a pungent rotten-egg smell. These local fisherman are helping with the clean-up. One says hotels in the town of Mahahual are losing tourists.

ANGEL HERNANDEZ FISHERMAN "There have been hotel cancellations. The smelly Sargassum frightens off some people. But this is part of nature. We are trying to make the beach look and smell as good as possible so that we can continue to capture tourism."

FRANC CONTRERAS MAHAHUAL, MEXICO "Marine biologists say we are witnessing the moment when global warming is transforming this part of the Caribbean Sea, usually known for its turquoise blue color water."

CGTN traveled more than 400 kilometers on two-lane tropical highways in order to gauge the magnitude of the problem. We found that the northern part of Quintana Roo state near the world-famous resort of Cancun has also been affected. Marine Biologist Brigita van Tussenbroek says global warming is changing oceans currents. And pushing the seaweed onto beaches all across the Caribbean.

BRIGITA VAN TUSSENBROEK MARINE BIOLOGIST "These conditions are ideal to form these huge masses of Sargassum, and most likely some changes in currents also helped that this mass now comes massively into the Caribbean and now is in the system."

From June through August, the state spent more than $17 million dollars to contain the problem. Officials still have no numbers to show the full impact of the seaweed inundation. Quintana Roo State Secretary of Ecology and Environment says because of global warming, the problem is here to stay.

ALFREDO ARELLANO ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT SECRETARY, QUINTANA ROO STATE "It's not just a problem for Mexico but for the entire Caribbean region. It's important to mention we have never seen this magnitude of the problem and so we are experimenting with remedies."

Scientists are testing to see if the seaweed can be used as a biofuel. In China, natural medicine specialists use Sargassum in a tea they say cures lung ailments.

Stakeholders we interviewed in Mexico believe that irreversible changes are happening in the environment, and they will require new approaches for those who make a living from the lucrative tourism economy. FC, CGTN, Quintana Roo State, Mexico.