As dangerous algal blooms grow, agencies need to pick up the pace. (2022, July 12). The Washington Post. Retrieved August 11, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/12/algal-blooms-epa-noaa-working-group/
This article lays out the harmful effects of algal blooms across the United States and “has been documented in all 50 states, in marine environments as well as in fresh water sources.” Places like Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River are having outbreaks in algae blooms. The beaches are showing signs of green algal due to the increase of pollution caused by fertilizer runoff. This is harmful to all living things that interact with the water. Toxins released by algal blooms create poisonous drinking water. Though Congress has tasked the NOAA, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency with solving this problem, the process is moving too slow.
This article is related to environmental science because while algae blooms are the result of a natural process, the fast paced outbreaks are occurring due to human actions. For example, when farmers are using pesticides and fertilizers on their fields and it rains, the runoff water which carries the fertilizer enters into our lakes and rivers and causes algae blooms to grow. The blooms are also becoming more toxic because of climate change. The GOA is coming up with strategies to help this issue, though I wonder how long this planning process will take. I imagine that this plan will be expensive in order for it to make a difference in the pace at which the algae blooms develop. I think that there needs to be more laws and money put towards the issue in order to make a significant change.
Excellent abstract here, Carley… and follow up paragraph too. What we’ve been doing in class is getting reinforced here. The thought of this phenomenon poisoning the drinking water makes the situation even worse. I agree with your sentiments in the follow up paragraph. The Clean Water Act should hold polluters accountable, however it’s very hard to trace fertilizer run-off back to the farm it came from. Can you imagine a way that this law could work better in this situation?
I thought your post was very educational, as I didn’t really know what Algae blooms were before this. I agree that it is a serious issue that needs to be addressed, and will become even more of a pressing problem as climate change progresses, which is becoming a common theme with the environmental issues in the world right now. Do you think Algae blooms will ever reach a breaking point where there is damage beyond our control?
Thank you for your response. The reason algae blooms are such an issue has a lot to do with farming and humans, the blooms are a natural occurrence but the amount of algae is becoming unhealthy for many ecosystems. I think that it is possible that the damage could get out of our control if we do not find alter some of the farming systems that are causing runoff into many bodies of water.