For Cleveland, Climate Change Could Mean Tons of Toxic Green Algae

[wtmusic]

"That's toxic cyanobacteria swirling in the lake waters north of Cleveland. At the time, this slippery stuff covered nearly one-fifth of Erie's surface, becoming the biggest bloom in the lake's recorded history. It looked and smelled awful, turned fishing into a hook-detangling nightmare and killed untold numbers of marine creatures by hypoxia.

Worse, the algae's loaded with foul substances harmful to the heart, blood and skin of many creatures. A dog that ingests one byproduct called microcystin can curl up and die within hours. (In humans it can cause flu-like symptoms, just in case you're about to eat a bowlful.) The algae might also cause fish to change sexes.

The monstrous algae invasion represented a biological throwback to the 1960s, when tons of phosphorus in the Great Lakes seeping from agriculture, sewage systems and industry summoned up bloated algal titans of an immensity never before seen. These blooms disappeared for the most part after the '70s thanks to the U.S. and Canada enacting the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. But it appears we're mired once again in the days of floating slime, with algae levels creeping up since the '90s."

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2013/04/cleveland-climate-change-could-mean-tons-toxic-green-algae/5189/