|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Argentines living near Buenos Aires woke up to a horrible stench from the Sarandi Stream on Feb. 7, 2025. Viral online videos also revealed that the stream had turned crimson red like blood.
A 5-minute, 42-second video trending on WhatsApp showed different locations where their rivers had turned red. The locations include Iran, Jerusalem, Russia, Peru, India, Siberia, Lebanon, Canada, Israel, the United Kingdom, Jamaica, France, and China.
The video also included claims about the Euphrates River drying up and water springing out of nowhere in the desert, where the Arabian nations now reside.
This incident sparked widespread concern and speculation, with some claiming it was a sign of the end times. The video referenced biblical prophecies in the Book of Revelation, specifically Revelation 16:3-6 which describes a scenario where rivers and springs turn to blood as part of God’s wrath. This narrative has been interpreted as a harbinger of doom.
The video has gone viral on different social media platforms. On Facebook, users have shared it here, here, here, here, and here, while on TikTok, bits of the video was found here, here and here.
However, authorities in Argentina have taken a more grounded approach, attributing the colour change to suspected industrial pollution, possibly from textile dyes or chemicals like aniline, commonly used in dye production.
Residents nearby also revealed that authorities had ignored their complaints since the 1990s, when the stream started exhibiting unusual colours with oily surfaces, such as grey, violet, blue, and green.
The Ministry of the Environment has collected water samples for analysis to determine the exact cause of the discolouration to verify the possibility of industrial waste in the region as the root cause.
Despite the apocalyptic interpretations, the reality points to a pressing environmental issue rather than a supernatural event.
Not the first time
Though rarely witnessed throughout modern history, rivers turning red have generated different myths of apocalyptic proportions globally. For instance, the Daldykan River near Norilsk, Russia, turned a vivid crimson in 2016, prompting locals to associate the event with biblical imagery.
However, investigations linked the discolouration to industrial pollution from a nearby metal plant. One of the world’s most polluted cities, Norilsk, has seen similar incidents due to ore runoff from smelting operations.
A similar event occurred in 2012 and 2014 when a stretch of China’s Yangtze River near Chongqing turned red. These events were attributed to supernatural causes. Scientists, however, pointed to industrial pollution and silt churned up by flooding as likely culprits. Experts ruled out biological phenomena like red algae blooms, which are typically marine-based and unlikely in fast-moving freshwater systems such as rivers.
Despite existing facts, conspiracy theorists also attribute the pink-red seasonal colour of the Cusco River in Peru to a spiritual indication of the apocalyptic prophesies. However, this spectacle is scientifically attributed to the erosion of iron oxides and other minerals from nearby red mountains and valleys eroded into the river. This phenomenon frequently happens during the rainy season in the area.
Viral claims about the Nile River also evoked biblical references to the plagues of Egypt. However, fact-checkers traced the viral images to Chile’s Red Lagoon, where natural sediments and microalgae cause its intense colouration. In other cases, algae blooms—caused by nutrient-rich waters—have been responsible for red hues in water bodies worldwide.
Understanding algae blooms
Algae blooms, another common cause of crimson-red rivers, are a phenomenon in which algae rapidly multiply in aquatic systems, often resulting in a change in water colour. These blooms, not just the commonly associated green or blue-green hues, can manifest in various forms. Depending on the algae type, the hues could be red, yellow, or brown.
While they can occur naturally, algae blooms are frequently caused by human activities, mainly by introducing excess nutrients into water bodies. The primary cause of these blooms is nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus accumulating in water, often originating from agricultural runoff and untreated sewage or industrial waste.
High temperatures, often associated with global warming, can accelerate the decomposition of nutrients like nitrates and ammonia, making them more readily available for algae growth. This favourable temperature condition is crucial for rapidly multiplying certain algae species.
Algae blooms are more likely to occur in slow-moving or stagnant water bodies, as fast-flowing streams and rivers do not allow algae to settle and multiply as quickly.
The effects of algae blooms can be both beneficial and harmful. On the positive side, they can serve as a food source for higher trophic levels. However, they often lead to adverse outcomes, such as oxygen depletion and the production of toxins harmful to aquatic life and human health.
While red algae blooms are less common in freshwater systems like rivers, certain algae can produce red pigments. However, they are more typically associated with marine environments, such as “red tides” caused by dinoflagellates.
Conclusion
Rivers turning red like Argentina’s Sarandi Stream, among others, are often a result of industrial pollution or harmless natural occurrences and are not mysterious, as the viral video claims.
