Lake Erie Algae Bloom 2014
The columbus dispatch 2014 august 4 toledo bearing full brunt of lake erie algae bloom.
Lake erie algae bloom 2014. For more info and links about harmful algal blooms or to subscribe and receive forecast information by e mail please visit the noaa lake erie hab forecast website. In 2011 and 2015 lake erie saw some of its biggest algae bloom in its record. A massive algae bloom in 2011 turned lake erie into pea soup. Great lakes regional office 100 ouellette avenue 8th floor windsor on n9a 6t3 phone.
Algal blooms a threat to small lakes and ponds too. Slimy and green the blooms are visible in certain areas along lake erie. Some 500 000 people in and around toledo had their water supplies disrupted for a weekend in august 2014 because of high levels of microcystin producing algae in western lake erie near the city s. The lake experiences the largest blooms in the great lakes region including one that shut down toledo s drinking water supply for a couple days in 2014.
Reducing phosphorus loadings and harmful algal blooms. But lake erie is not alone in contending with this issue as areas across the great lakes deal with recurring algal blooms each year. The bloom in 2003 lasted a month and microcystis blooms have often been a problem since. A balanced diet for lake erie.
Michalak a m et al. At 1 920 square feet the 2011 bloom was three times larger than the second largest ever recorded the algae bloom last year caused a scare in a small ohio town when the carroll gardens water treatment plant found microcystin levels more than 3 times the. But ultimately as scientists have noted the algae blooms are continuously growing despite the recovery efforts. Accessed august 4 2014.
In 2014 over 500 000 residence near the lake could not use tap water sources for 3 days because of the danger posed by the toxic algae bloom. Proceedings of the national academy of sciences vol. The national oceanic and atmospheric administration and its partners are forecasting that western lake erie will experience a moderate harmful algal bloom this summer expected to measure around 4 5 out of 10 on the severity index. But in 1995 algae blooms returned to lake erie.
In august 2014 for example high. Photograph by peter essick national geographic climate change and increased runoff are triggering more potentially toxic blooms. This web page is being provided as part of a multi agency effort to provide information about and access to existing forecasts of harmful algal blooms and other environmental information. International joint commission 2014.
Peter essick aurora photos inc.