Algal Bloom a Growing Threat to Humans, Environment, Resources

In the 1980 science-fiction novel, Timescape, scientist and author Gregory Benford tells the chilling tale of an algal bloom that grips the globe in 1998 and turns all surface water into toxic waste. Benford's prediction was made real about a decade late as algal bloom become a tragic reality that is killing animals, poisoning water, and endangering human health across the world. Thought to be triggered by fertilizer use, algal blooms are covering lakes and slow moving streams with a thick layer of toxic sludge that has already claimed the lives of pets and horses who have unwittingly fallen into or drank from these tainted bodies of water.

There have not yet any cases of human poisoning related to algal blooms, but aquatic biologist and toxicology professor Wayne Carmichael told the Associated Press that it's just a matter of time. "Sooner or later, we are going to have more acute human poisoning," Carmichael said. According to the AP, the algal bloom has choked up rivers and lakes in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Washington, and Oregon due to the mild heat and light precipitation these areas have seen in recent months. The French countryside and lakes fed by major rivers in China are also said to be covered with a layer of algal bloom. Wisconsin's department of health has already received over 40 complaints concerning respiratory complications due to algal blooms this year.

Ocean-faring types of algal blooms have afflicted our nation's coastlines, such as the "red tides" that washed up on California and Florida beaches late last year. The source of these phenomena is not firmly established. Although, algal bloom has been linked with over-nutrification of water systems from fertilizer runoff, the blooms have significant ties to iron carried in the Saharan wind and evidence exists that red tides have washed up on Florida beaches for thousands of years. Florida researchers are experimenting with spraying clay into waters affected by red tide to mitigate the effect of these algal blooms.

It's worth noting that not all algal blooms are harmful. In the case of geo-engineering, scientists have considered triggering a massive non-toxic algal bloom to absorb carbon dioxide from our atmosphere. There are concerns that triggering a bloom like this could have far reaching effects, which have made this a less viable option when compared to cloud seeding and carbon capture devices. Naturally occurring algal blooms in the ocean have been found to grow larger and more numerous in oceans with higher CO2 content, which could be another contributing factor to this growing ecological concern.