{"id":36392,"date":"2018-08-04T11:17:07","date_gmt":"2018-08-04T16:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=36392"},"modified":"2018-08-04T11:17:07","modified_gmt":"2018-08-04T16:17:07","slug":"fueled-by-pollution-and-unsound-policies-toxic-algae-overtakes-florida-beaches-and-waterways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=36392","title":{"rendered":"Fueled by Pollution and Unsound Policies, Toxic Algae Overtakes Florida Beaches and Waterways"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 id=\"page-title\" class=\"page__title title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.desmogblog.com\/2018\/08\/02\/pollution-policies-toxic-algae-red-tide-cyanobacteria-florida-lake-okeechobee\">Fueled by Pollution and Unsound Policies, Toxic Algae Overtakes Florida Beaches and Waterways<\/a><\/h3>\n<article class=\"node-13106 node node-blog node-promoted view-mode-full clearfix\">\n<div class=\"field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field-items\">\n<div class=\"field-item even\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.desmogblog.com\/sites\/beta.desmogblog.com\/files\/styles\/full_width_blog_image\/public\/blogimages\/-leaad9B3A5493-Edit.jpg?itok=pLa_V1lK\" alt=\"Sunset over a canal in Cape Coral, Florida, filled with blue green algae.\" width=\"810\" height=\"503\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"new-horizontal-social-bar clearfix\">\n<div class=\"new-horizontal-share-wrapper new-horizontal-fb-wrapper clearfix\">Florida is in the midst of a still-unfolding water pollution catastrophe. Many formerly picture-perfect beaches and posh waterfront neighborhoods are now surreal toxic landscapes where the smell is so pungent, it can make\u00a0you\u00a0nauseous.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field-items\">\n<div class=\"field-item even\">\n<p>Parts of South Florida are being inundated by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.noaa.gov\/what-is-harmful-algal-bloom\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">harmful algal blooms<\/a>, which affect both public health and marine life, including red tide (caused by the alga <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC2683401\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Karenia brevis<\/a><\/em>)\u00a0and blue-green algae (more precisely known as cyanobacteria, or <em>Microcystis<\/em>, which are technically bacteria but commonly referred to as\u00a0algae).<\/p>\n<p>While both types of toxin-producing algae are normal parts of their environments, the crisis is not.\u00a0Water pollution and climate change are\u00a0fueling this supersized toxic algae\u00a0mess.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.desmogblog.com\/sites\/beta.desmogblog.com\/files\/-9B3A5784-Edit.jpg\" alt=\"Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, in a canal near Cape Coral Yacht Club in Florida.\" \/><br \/>\n<em>Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, in a canal near the Cape Coral Yacht Club in\u00a0Florida.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.desmogblog.com\/sites\/beta.desmogblog.com\/files\/-9B3A0015.jpg\" alt=\"Fish kill on a beach in Boca Grande, Florida\" \/><br \/>\n<em>Fish kill on a beach in Boca Grande,\u00a0Florida.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The state\u2019s water quality standards, friendly toward agriculture and real estate development, result in the release of an abundance of nutrients\u00a0including phosphorus\u00a0and nitrogen into the water. This influx of growth-inducing nutrients causes marine and freshwater algae populations to explode in what\u2019s called a \u201cbloom.\u201d These blooms can use up much of the oxygen in the water, causing aquatic life to die, in addition to the potentially fatal toxins these algae\u00a0release.<\/p>\n<p>Storm run-off from\u00a0agricultural and urban landscapes, laden with\u00a0fertilizers and animal manure, and badly maintained\u00a0septic systems\u00a0contribute to the current crisis.\u00a0On top of this,\u00a0massive releases of polluted freshwater, laden with cyanobacteria, from Lake Okeechobee are ending up on both of the state\u2019s coasts. And when the freshwater cyanobacteria hit the saltwater, they die, creating even more nutrients that feed the red\u00a0tide.<\/p>\n<p><em><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.desmogblog.com\/sites\/beta.desmogblog.com\/files\/-9B3A6374.jpg\" alt=\"Photographer's sneakers on a concrete seawall on the side of a toxic algae-filled canal in Cape Coral, Florida.\" \/><br \/>\nPhotographer\u2019s sneakers on a concrete seawall on the side of a toxic algae-filled canal in Cape Coral,\u00a0Florida.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u2026click on the above link to read the rest of the article\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fueled by Pollution and Unsound Policies, Toxic Algae Overtakes Florida Beaches and Waterways Florida is in the midst of a still-unfolding water pollution catastrophe. Many formerly picture-perfect beaches and posh waterfront neighborhoods are now surreal toxic landscapes where the smell is so pungent, it can make\u00a0you\u00a0nauseous. Parts of South Florida are being inundated by harmful [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[141,21090,5317,940,11518,21091,21093,21092,638,15940,6522],"class_list":["post-36392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","tag-climate-change","tag-cyanobacteria","tag-desmog-blog","tag-florida","tag-julie-dermansky","tag-karenia-brevis","tag-lake-okeechobee","tag-microcystis","tag-pollution","tag-south-florida","tag-toxic-algae"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36392"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36393,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36392\/revisions\/36393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}