Lake Erie Algae Bloom 2019
A toxic algae bloom in lake erie has grown so large it can be seen from space.
Lake erie algae bloom 2019. Tuesday august 6th 2019 11 30 am harmful algal blooms are a growing concern for western lake erie forecasters are expecting a significant algal bloom in western lake erie this summer. Calm winds in july especially in western lake erie tend to allow the algal toxins to concentrate making blooms more harmful noaa said in their forecast. Cleveland ohio this year s harmful algal bloom plaguing lake erie grew in august to 620 square miles more than seven times the size of cleveland. Such runoff can lead to algae blooms.
Noaa soil and fertilizer runoff from a farm after heavy rains. This was on par with the forecast of 7 5. 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. Scientists say lake erie has endured harmful algae blooms historically but the modern day magnitude is believed to be increasing as a result of human activities and climate change.
Lake erie blooms consist of cyanobacteria also called blue green algae that are capable of producing the liver toxin microcystin that poses a risk to human and wildlife health. Toxic algae bloom can be seen from space. Even so the 2019 bloom was severe enough to cause problems for many of those who rely on lake erie including charter captains who earn their living getting people onto walleye yellow perch and smallmouth bass. The national oceanic and atmospheric administration rated the 2019 harmful algal bloom in lake erie as a 7 3 on the severity scale of 1 10.
How the 2019 lake erie harmful algal bloom grew. The largest blooms occurred in 2011 with a severity index of 10 and 2015 at 10 5. Last year s bloom had a severity index of 3 6 while 2017 s was 8 0. Noaa s algal bloom records show 2011 and 2015 as significantly more severe than other years dating back to 2002.