Too often the debate over the looming environmental catastrophe called “climate change” is couched in the future tense. For example, the world’s experts have said that unless the earth’s temperature increase is kept to no more than 2 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2030, the changes may be irreversible. Recent New York legislation has pledged to eliminate the use of fossil fuels to power electricity by the year 2040 and pledged to nearly eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050.
Of course, those future goals are important. Yet, too little is discussed about the impact that global warming is having right now.
Ice sheets are melting, the oceans are more acidic, sea levels are rising, and storms are more powerful. And those are happening right now. In addition, the ongoing and growing climate catastrophe impacts our daily lives in ways that are not as obvious.
For example, the increasing threat posed by algal blooms.
According to the State Department of Environmental Conservation, while most algal blooms are harmless, some species can pose a public health threat. In those cases, algae can produce toxins that can be harmful to people and animals. These blooms usually occur in nutrient-rich waters, meaning waters that receive large amounts of runoffs from residential and agricultural sources. When combined with hot weather, dangerous blooms can occur.
The incidents of algal blooms have risen with the increasing temperature of the planet. Algal blooms can be toxic and when present waterbodies cannot be used for recreation or even drinking. The threat has gotten worse each year.
Harmful algal blooms aren’t your typical green surface ooze that you may see on the top of lake waters. While ugly to look at when at the surface, a bloom can also be dangerous, so much so that the state has a blanket policy to stay out of the water should there be evidence of one.
While every algal bloom isn't toxic – some algal species can produce both toxic and nontoxic blooms – toxic blooms can cause problems for swimmers and other recreational users in the form of rashes or allergic reactions. People who swim in a bloom may experience different side effects including nausea, vomiting, headaches, respiratory problems, skin rash and other reactions. There have also been reports nationwide of dogs and livestock dying shortly after swimming or wading in a bloom.
And more ominously, these algal blooms impact the oceans too. Last week, all the of the beaches along the Gulf Coast in the state of Mississippi were closed due to algal blooms there.
These blooms have a blue-green slimy substance. They often crop up in late summer and early fall, although scores have been reported already in New York’s surface waters. Algal blooms need nutrients to bloom, so often they’ll be observed after heavy storms when residential and agricultural runoffs occur.
The nutrients they primarily rely on are phosphorus and nitrogen and the algal blooms have increased due to a rise in nutrient runoff from sources such as soil erosion from fertilized agricultural areas and lawns, erosion from river banks, river beds, land clearing (deforestation), and sewage effluent. All of these are the major sources of phosphorus and nitrogen entering water ways. These nutrients coupled with warm, calm water is the recipe for an algal bloom.
To check out the lakes in which algal blooms are a concern, you can go to the DEC website, which has a harmful algal bloom notifications webpage that it updates weekly. (Go to www.dec.ny.gov to see information on algal blooms.)
Areas that tend be more protected are those in which development is strictly regulated and waterbodies closely monitored. Of course, the long term solution is to wean the planet off its addiction to fossil fuels and develop alternative forms of energy.
Climate catastrophe is not something that we are waiting for, it’s here now and it’s going to get a lot worse. As we cope, aggressive measures need to be taken to protect vital water supplies; measures that protect wetlands, limit development, manage farm wastes, and monitor algal blooms.
Of course, the world needs to kick the fossil fuel habit altogether and instead invest its resources in the development of renewable power – solar, wind, geothermal – and better energy efficiencies.
Failing to do so will only accelerate to the point of no return the catastrophe global warming.
Blair Horner is executive director of the New York Public Interest Research Group.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors.They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.