Depending on the type of algae or bacteria that cause it, an algal bloom may produce bad-smelling scum, foam, froth, or a paintlike slick. An algal bloom is the overgrowth of microscopic algae or algae-like bacteria in fresh, salt, or brackish waters. ![]() Here’s what you need to know about algal blooms, including their causes and consequences.Ĭritical to aquatic food webs, algae are photosynthetic organisms-in other words, they derive energy for growth from the sun. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) predicts that climate change will only exacerbate the problem. While they aren’t a new phenomenon (Spanish explorers recorded blooms along Florida’s coast in the 1500s), reports of freshwater harmful algal blooms have increased significantly over the past 40 years, and they are now an environmental problem in all 50 states. Algal blooms are odious, but more important, they can also be dangerous, imperiling public health and aquatic ecosystems, and costly, affecting local economies. They also form in bodies of fresh water, making lakes, ponds, or your favorite swimming hole smelly and slimy. ![]() But harmful algal blooms don’t just affect our oceans. You may have read about algae taking over giant swaths of coastlines, closing beaches and turning the sea a foamy brownish red in a phenomenon known as a red tide. ![]() Preventing Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms.What Are the Effects of Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms?.What Causes Harmful Freshwater Algal Blooms?.The Most Common Types of Harmful Algal Blooms.
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