Posted @withrepost • @natgeo Photo by Keith Ladzinski @ladzinski...

Posted @withrepost • @natgeo Photo by Keith Ladzinski @ladzinski | What you’re looking at is nothing short of a tragedy. This is a massive algae bloom on Lake Erie, one of the five Great Lakes in North America. The boat in the frame, a small research vessel, is intended for scale—the sheer size of the bloom extends for miles upon miles outside the edges of this photo. These lakes collectively make up 84% of North America’s freshwater and 21% of the world’s. Seeing pollution on this scale should have us all outraged at the sheer mismanagement of this precious resource. The Great Lakes have long been a place where chemicals, toxic pollutants, pesticides, and metals have been dumped from a large array of industry. These pollutants are flushed into tributary rivers that extend hundreds of miles throughout the Great Lakes Basin and then into the Mississippi River, which exits into the Gulf of Mexico, and the St. Lawrence River, which pours into the Atlantic. Even in small concentrations, many of these toxins have been linked to cancer, birth defects, and immune deficiencies. Although the pollution issue was much greater in the past, it’s still happening even today, and many of these toxins can take thousands of years to break down. The algae seen here is the product of excess phosphors in the water that cause these blooms when the temperatures increase. It’s not toxic to the touch, but if ingested, even through small droplets while swimming, water skiing, etc., it’s enough to make you sick. Illnesses and toxins can include dermatotoxins, hepatotoxins, neurotoxins, and cytotoxins. It’s a sad and serious issue. To see more from my Great Lakes assignment, please visit @ladzinski
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