Come On In, The Water’s Fine!–Not

Harmful algal blooms are not new to freshwater lakes, but they’re getting worse. From this piece: “For the last 1 or 2 decades, we’ve made a tremendous amount of progress in terms of understanding the links between climate and water quantity—things like drought and flooding and extreme rainfall,” said Anna Michalak, a researcher at the Carnegie Institution for Science and a coauthor on the new study.

Not sure I’d want to take a dip in Lake Erie, pictured above.

From the Wikipedia entry: The harmful effects from such blooms is due to the toxins they produce or from using up oxygen in the water which can lead to fish die-offs. Not all algal blooms are harmful, however, with some only discoloring water, producing a smelly odor, or adding a bad taste to the water.