Eutrophication, Cyanobacteria, and Cyanotoxins Newsletters

From the Mainstream Media / Dans les médias grand public Taiwan : Nine reservoirs eutrophic “A record nine of Taiwan’s 20 major reservoirs produced eutrophic quality water last year, statistics from the Ministry of Environment showed.” USA : Chesapeake Bay restoration leaders, advocates divided on best path forward “No one disputes that the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus should be reduced. In the Bay, they spur algae blooms and lead to oxygen-starved “dead zones.” They also trigger blooms in rivers and streams, including some that produce toxins harmful to people and wildlife.” Across Farm Country, Fertilizer Pollution Impacts Not Just Health, but Water Costs, Too “Overuse of fertilizer means nitrates are on the rise in water supplies, and rural areas bear the brunt.” New Hampshire, USA : Protecting NH Lakes: $1 Million in Funding to Prevent Cyanobacteria Blooms “To date, cyanobacteria blooms have been documented in 113 waterbodies statewide and account for 64 wa...

From the Mainstream Media / Dans les médias grand public Canada: L’avenir de la gestion de l’eau douce au Canada « La vision de cette nouvelle agence fédérale, dont le siège sera situé à Winnipeg, au Manitoba, est de veiller à ce que les ressources en eau douce restent sûres, propres et bien gérées pour aujourd’hui et les générations futures. » Canada: The future of freshwater management in Canada “The vision for the new federal agency—to be headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba—is to ensure freshwater resources are kept safe, clean, and well-managed for today and for future generations.” The Netherlands: Layers Of Responsibility For Dutch Nitrogen Pollution “Nitrogen is used in chemical fertilizers to produce the soy that, in turn, is fed to livestock. The combined feces and urine of animals that are crowded into barns leads to more nitrogen, which evaporates as atmospheric ammonia. There’s simply not enough space for all the manure.” Wisconsin, USA: Wiscon...

From the Mainstream Media / Dans les médias grand public “It’s getting worse” – US failing to stem tide of harmful farm pollutants “The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has called nutrient pollution “the single greatest challenge to our nation’s water quality,” and acknowledges that much of the nutrient pollution flowing into the northern Gulf originates on agricultural land.” Government agencies “tell you they are spending all this money, therefore they must be doing something right,” she said. “But if you look at water quality data, at what’s really happening, it’s getting worse, not better.” Video : Here’s What All the Earth’s Water Looks Like In One Sphere “2/3 of the planet’s surface is covered in water - but if you took every drop and formed it into a single ball, how big would it be? The answer may surprise you.” How Industrial Agriculture Affects Our Water “Water pollution from industrial agriculture, including CAFO...

From the Mainstream Media / Dans les médias grand public United Kingdom : Fears for river pollution as UK ditches EU farming rules after Brexit “As of 1 January 2024, British farmers will no longer have to follow EU regulations on reducing agricultural runoff into rivers, or a series of other measures designed to promote good environmental practices.” Algae, Aerosols, and Asthma Researchers recently found evidence that airway exposure to the algal toxin microcystin can create an inflammatory response in lungs that is exacerbated in experimental models of asthma. Michigan, USA : MSU ‘Edge-of-Field’ research hopes to turn the tide in water quality “They are examining the effectiveness of a water management system — controlled drainage — to see how it is best implemented and how effective this system is at keeping nutrients in fields rather than draining into surrounding waterways where they can create harmful algae blooms.” Discussing the environmental impacts of zero l...

From the Mainstream Media / Dans les médias grand public North Carolina, USA: US Fish and Wildlife Service Announces Decision to Implement a Cyanobacteria Pilot Study “The treatment would use a sodium percarbonate-based algaecide.” South Africa: Opinion: New cyanobacteria discoveries point to alarming changes in our already distressed waterways “Our capacity to cope with rapidly changing conditions within our aquatic ecosystems is simply being overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of change on multiple fronts.” Ireland: 'Difficult interventions' needed to address environmental crisis at Northern Ireland's largest lake “The crisis is thought to be caused by factors such as nitrogen and phosphorus from farm fertilisers seeping into the water, the spread of invasive zebra mussels, and climate change.” Canada : Enhanced nitrogen fertilizer efficiency adoption is low “Most farmers decided the extra cost associated with using enhanced efficiency fertilizers is...

From the Mainstream Media / Dans les médias grand public Yemen: Coral reefs at risk from algal bloom after Rubymar sunk in Red Sea “When the Rubymar sank in the Red Sea after a Houthi attack, the ship went down carrying 21,000-tonnes of fertiliser which could trigger massive algal blooms that could create "dead zones" for marine life and starve coral reefs of light.” Video: Can algae save the world? | DW Documentary “Using algae to solve humanity’s most pressing problems - that’s the ambitious aim of a team of researchers from Germany.” Ohio, USA: Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) Harmful Algal Bloom Research Initiative “The Harmful Algal Bloom Research Initiative (HABRI), created in the aftermath of the 2014 Toledo water crisis, provides near-term solutions for the full suite of issues surrounding harmful algal blooms.” Reducing eutrophication crucial to prevent coastal methane emissions “Many Swedish coastal areas are currently affected by eut...

From the Mainstream Media / Dans les médias grand public UNEP warns of ecosystem harm from excessive nitrogen in agriculture "Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for boosting food production, but its excessive use is polluting both surface and groundwater sources.” Iowa, USA: Iowa primed for potentially ‘epic’ increase in stream pollution “A buildup of nitrate in farm fields that has likely resulted from Iowa’s longest-running drought in 70 years has set the stage for a potentially massive uptick in stream pollution.” Ireland: Fertiliser cuts, changes to excretion rates and crude protein feed levels in new Nitrates proposals “Following a meeting of the Agriculture Water Quality Group on February 29, a suite of measures have been proposed to improve water quality at farm level.” US-EPA-Update: Control Measures for Cyanobacterial HABs in Surface Water “The table provides a summary of common physical and chemical measures for cyanobacterial bloom control in surface...