Beach Bummer: Toxic Slime Will Hit Lake Erie Again
http://www.livescience.com/46753-lake-erie-algae-bloom-forecast.html
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Satellite image of a toxic algae bloom in Lake Erie in 2011, one of the worst blooms in recent years.
Credit: MERIS/ESA
Slimy green mats of toxic algae will again threaten the western shores of Lake Erie later this summer, according to an algae forecast released today (July 10).
The predicted Lake Erie algal bloom will be smaller than in the past three years, but still above the average for the past 12 years, according to the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) forecast. The algae are also expected to collect on certain shorelines instead of spreading out evenly across the lake, NOAA said in a statement. In previous years, the toxic algae have clung to the western third of the lake, in Ohio and southern Ontario.
This year's forecast calls for some 24,250 tons (22,000 metric tons) of blue-green algae to overtake Lake Erie's waters, while the average since 2004 is 15,430 tons (14,000 metric tons). [Photos of the Great Lakes: North America's 'Third Coast']
This is the third year the agency has forecast the amount of toxic slime that would choke Lake Erie during the late summer. The forecast is based on models of fertilizer runoff and satellite tracking of precipitation and snowmelt.
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