Toxic Algae Bloom in Lake Erie: What should be done?

[kaleidoscope]

How do we fix this?​

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.

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

 

[Xnn]

Decomposing Barley Straw...

http://www.apms.org/japm/vol31/v31p203.pdf

 

[DaveC426913]

Wait...

There's life?

In Lake Erie?

This is bigger than the Mars rocks!

 

[BadBrain]

Wait...

There's life?

In Lake Erie?

This is bigger than the Mars rocks!

Agreed!

I was born and raised in Milwaukee, along the shores of Lake Michigan, and Lake Erie has long been the shame of the Great Lakes.

Anyways, here's a nice song (and notice that it contains the lines: "and farther below Lake Ontario takes in what Lake Erie can send her":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9A4HRzHz5Y&feature=fvst

 

[JorgeLobo]

Lake Erie is an example of an invasice species producing a positive result. The zebra mussel invasion effecitvley filtered water so much that the lake became clear and cleaner and fish populations are doing very well. The algal blooms cited here have been attributed phosphate pollution resulting from to winter application of sewage sludge on no-till corn fields. Spring snow melt carries phisphate into the lake.