Algae in Lake Erie was once so bad its western basin was declared “dead” — a catastrophe name-dropped in Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax. Clean-up efforts worked for a bit, but it’s full of algae again, & southwestern Ontario’s exploding greenhouse sector won’t help: thenarwhal.ca/ontario-lake-e…
@thenarwhalca this is interesting to me & breaks my 💔. why? b/c my brother had an RV on the edge of this lake & waded in often this summer. he was immunocompromised tho & got an aeromonas infection/water borne pathogen in his leg that caused sepsis/septic shock/organ failure then his death.
@thenarwhalca Phosphorus is one driver of the blooms. It is not the only 'main' driver. The algae in western Lake Erie cannot make biomass or toxins without nitrogen, which comes from agricultural fertilizers, just like the phosphorus does. Someone should do a story on nitrogen someday...