This article addressed the ever-present concern of climate change, focusing on the increase in algal blooms. The increase of toxicity of algal blooms "threatens aquatic organisms, ecosystem health and human drinking water safety". One cause of the increase in toxicity is the increase of cyanobacteria. The author of the article compares cyanobacteria to cockroaches in the way that they're always there, but never necessarily wanted. However, it is believed that cyanobacteria is what released the oxygen that made the evolution of terrestrial life possible, which I thought was interesting, immediately picturing dinosaurs. Oregon State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill both provided scientists to investigate the real consequences of this increase in algal blooms.
The cyanobacteria releases toxins, and about 1/3 of lakes greater than 10 acres big may contain cyanobacteria. This results in algal blooms "so massive that they are visible from outer space". Because of the location of the toxins, "exposure risks are greatest near the water's surface", which is scary as far as recreational water uses like swimming, but also for drinking water. As one of the scientists sums up, "with a warming climate, rising carbon dioxide levels, dams on more rivers than not, and overloading of nutrients into our waterways, the magnitude and duration of toxic cyanobacterial blooms is only going to get worse."
No comments:
Post a Comment