Toxic Algae
After several years of using an algaecide to kill blue-green algal blooms in Lake Okeechobee and the canals around it, the South Florida Water Management District now plans to test the chemical compound for possible damage to the environment. At…
Ten years ago today, we were in the eye of the storm. The discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers had begun May 8; by early August 2013 the “Lost Summer” was in full swing, with…
The “Gray Lady” has noticed the blue-green gunk on Lake Okeechobee. The world may soon notice, too. On its website last weekend — and on the front page of the print edition Monday, July 10 — the New York Times…
First the good news: The record pace of manatee deaths in Florida has slowed. Two years ago Florida saw a record 1,100 manatee deaths. The primary cause of this “unusual mortality event” was starvation due to the loss of seagrass…
One of the most passionate clean-water advocates in South Florida just got kicked to the curb. As we detailed last week, Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch had been a member of the South Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board since 2019. The Sewall’s…
You know those massive algal blooms that cover much of Lake Okeechobee each spring and summer? The ones that threaten the St. Lucie River and Caloosahatchee River estuaries, and everyone who lives around or spends time on them, with toxins?…
In a frightening 2009 article titled “Re-Engineering the Earth,” The Atlantic magazine predicted that as the impacts of climate change worsened, mankind would turn to technology for salvation. Perhaps we’ll pump pollutants into the sky, turning it a reddish-orange, to…
Toxic blue-green algae blooms on Lake Okeechobee are becoming a yearly occurrence. And this year’s bloom could be a doozy. Both federal and state officials are predicting a major bloom on the lake this spring, due in part to Hurricane…
We told you last month that toxic blue-green algae — cyanobacteria — is proliferating across the country, the globe — and across Florida. Dozens of health alerts have been issued across the Sunshine State; in Cape Coral earlier this week…
Blue-green algae is everywhere this summer. In Colorado Springs, officials are adding enzymes to the water to clear up annual blooms. In Kansas, officials over the 4th of July weekend warned residents to steer clear of 10 impaired water bodies.…