The Conversation. (April 29, 2020). Climate change threatens drinking water quality across the Great Lakes. Retrieved August 30, 2020 from, https://theconversation.com/climate-change-threatens-drinking-water-quality-across-the-great-lakes-131883
Global warming is causing toxic algae blooms that are turning lakes from clear to green in the Western United States. The rapid warming of these high elevation environments has caused the concentration of algae in two of these mountain lakes to double in the past 70 years. To collect this information a team of scientists used a gravity corer tool to collect sediment cores. The large change in algae was due to the green algal blooms, chlorophytes, that thrive in warm temperature. The amount of algae found in these lakes would most likely be found in a highly polluted area affected by agricultural runoff, not isolated mountain environments. Climate change causes the accumulation of nutrients , such as phosphorus and nitrogen, that cause algae blooms. These blooms sicken wildlife and destabilize aquatic environments. On another note, these freshwater and marine algae blooms, “have a huge negative economic impact, affecting fisheries, tourism and human health”.
This article shows yet another instance in which Global Warming is changing our environment in ways we never thought possible. These algae blooms are a problem throughout the entire US and severely affect many freshwater sources. They damage the environment and ecosystems that surround them and pollute the little fresh water we have and need. Ultimately, these blooms are caused by human carelessness, we have caused and worsened global warming and we have dumped chemicals and waste into waterways for years and years causing permanent damage. The environments and ecosystems around the US are connected in many ways and if we continue to mess up and destabilize parts of it, it will all suffer the consequences and come back to harm us.
I completely agree that this contamination could have a domino effect throughout our country’s population and eventually throughout the world. It also illustrates that the way we treat the environment could come back around and harm us in drastic ways if we don’t fix the damage we have done. The first step is to make people more aware of the problem we have at hand because I think a big part of the issue is that a lot of people are not aware of the fact that almost every action they take during the day has a cost on the environment. Given this, do you think that people would be more willing to help our environment if they new the long term effects it would have on out world?
You make many great points!! We are all so connected, and little things we do can make an overall large impact. I think that if people understood how much they can make a difference in the environment, they would be excited and willing to find ways that they can help and reduce their negative impacts.
I agree that the increase in algae will have many negative effects on the ecosystems living there which will result in damage throughout all of the connected ecosystems. What should companies and individuals be doing in order to limit their effect on the environment and subsequently limiting the algae blooms?
I think companies need to be aware of the waste they produce. A common issue is that companies release large amounts of carbon emissions and dump contaminated water into streams and rivers. If they can find a way to filter out the toxins and make the water clean enough, then they can safely release it into natural water sources. This change would be extremely helpful in keeping the water sources as clean and safe as possible. The system many companies are doing now is not acceptable and laws and restrictions need to be put in place to protect the environment and water ecosystems.