NASA EO Imagery - Algae Bloom In Lake Erie "Worst In Decades"

[hatrack]

The green scum shown in this image is the worst algae bloom Lake Erie has experienced in decades. Such blooms were common in the lake’s shallow western basin in the 1950s and 60s. Phosphorus from farms, sewage, and industry fertilized the waters so that huge algae blooms developed year after year. The blooms subsided a bit starting in the 1970s, when regulations and improvements in agriculture and sewage treatment limited the amount of phosphorus that reached the lake. But in 2011, a giant bloom spread across the western basin once again. The reasons for the bloom are complex, but may be related to a rainy spring and invasive mussels.

The Landsat-5 satellite acquired the top image on October 5, 2011. Vibrant green filaments extend out from the northern shore. The bloom is primarily microcystis aeruginosa, an algae that is toxic to mammals, according to the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. Several days of calm winds and warm temperatures allowed the algae to gather on the surface. The bloom intensified after October 5, and by October 9—when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite acquired the lower image—the bloom covered much of the western basin.

Microcystis aeruginosa produces a liver toxin, microcystin, that commonly kills dogs swimming in infected water and causes skin irritation for people. Richard Stumpf, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, measured 50 times more microcystin in Lake Erie in the summer of 2011 than the World Health Organization recommends for safe recreation.

“This is considered the worst bloom in decades, and may have been influenced by the wet spring,” says Stumpf. Heavy snow fell in the winter and spring, followed by record-setting rainfall in parts of the Lake Erie watershed in April. The rain and melting snow ran off fields, yards, and paved surfaces, carrying an array of pollutants into streams and rivers—including phosphorus from fertilizers. More rain and runoff resulted in more phosphorus, and as in earlier decades, that nutrient nourished the algae in the lake.

EDIT

http://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=76127

[1776Forever]

1. This is awful stuff and very hard to get rid of but there has been some success:

Here's a story on Lake St. Mary, Ohio:

http://usalco.com/company/news/after-success-at-lake-st-marys-ohio-officials-work-to-reduce-blue-green-algae-blooms-in-lake-erie-567

After success at Lake St. Mary's, Ohio officials work to reduce blue-green algae blooms in Lake Erie
Officials in Ohio have had to contend with the seemingly never-ending proliferation of blue-green algae blooms in state water sources. The state allocated millions of dollars this past summer to fight the growth of blue-green algae blooms in Lake St. Mary's, treating it with aluminum sulfate and sodium aluminate. Now, environmental and public health officials have set their sights on a much bigger target.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that Ohio is turning its attention toward the proliferation of the toxic blooms in Lake Erie. Toxic blue-green algae blooms besieged the Great Lake this summer, with the pathogens spreading across its western basin. The blooms effectively increased the size of the lake's dead zone, a hypoxic area where marine life cannot survive.

Officials are concerned that unless more is done in the near future, Lake Erie's $10 billion annual tourism industry could be affected, cutting off state funds during a period of tepid economic growth.

(more at link)

............

Hope there is a successful end to this soon!

[undergroundpanther]

2. poor lake erie it's suffered so much

It was once a very sacred lake,pristine ,before the greedy came ,until the poison called commerce killed it.I HATE wall street and capitalist pigs.They shit on our water,our lands,our air,our bodies.