It's Baaa-ack! NOAA Says Lake Erie's Toxic Algae Bloom Could Rival 2011's Record Size
For the second year in a row, a harmful algae bloom is beginning to form in Lake Erie — and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted that this year’s algae bloom could rival that of 2011, the most severe bloom on record.
During that record bloom, close to 20 percent of Lake Erie was covered by a green-tinged algae — technically cyanobacteria, a type of aquatic bacteria that uses photosynthesis to create energy and thrives in warm conditions. In a 2013 Ecowatch report, scientists from Oregon State University called it “the cockroaches of the aquatic world.”
This is the same type of algae that disrupted the Ohio city of Toldeo’s water supply for three days last summer, prompting officials to issue a tap water ban. In large amounts, an algae bloom can produce a harmful toxin known as microcystin, which, if consumed, can cause dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and liver damage. Boiling doesn’t kill the toxin — it just makes it worse.
“Last summer’s Toledo water crisis was a wake-up call to the serious nature of harmful algal blooms in America’s waters,” Jeff Reutter, senior advisor to Ohio State University’s Sea Grant program and Stone Laboratory, said at a NOAA press conference in July. “This forecast once again focuses attention on this issue, and the urgent need to take action to address the problems caused by excessive amounts of nutrients from fertilizer, manure and sewage flowing into our lakes and streams.”
EDIT
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/08/05/3688199/lake-erie-algae-bloom-is-back/
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