Associated Press. (2018, June 22). Toxic algae blooms becoming more common across US. Retrieved November 18, 2018, from https://nypost.com/2018/06/22/toxic-algae-blooms-becoming-more-common-across-us/
Reservoirs and lakes across the U.S. are experiencing algae blooms which affects the ecosystem in the area. Since water bodies are becoming warmer and staying that way for longer the algae blooms are able to continue to grow without much competition from other species. The cyanobacteria leads to the deaths of animals in the area due to hypoxia or toxins and can do the same thing to humans. More frequent droughts cause the waters to be shallower which leads to them getting warmer quicker in the summer. There are also several places getting algae blooms when they did not previously have them. Other water supplies can also be affected as can be seen when workers checked on one of their reservoirs and found a bloom.
This is relevant to environmental science since there is an increasing amount of algae blooms around the nation due to global warming. The increased warmth of the Earth has led to an increased amount of blooms in places that should not have them, but now that they are here they have to be dealt with for the sake of human health. The increased amount of shallow water bodies also does not help with algae blooms since shallow water gets warmer faster than deep water.
This is a big problem especially because it will continue to grow as the world continues to warm. Are there any techniques being used to keep the algae blooms in check?
An increase in algae blooms is very concerning because it poses a threat to wildlife as well as humans. Do you know if we have adequate water treatment systems to filter out the toxins produced from algae blooms?