Too\noften the debate over the looming environmental catastrophe called \u201cclimate\nchange\u201d is couched in the future tense. \nFor example, the world\u2019s experts have said that unless the earth\u2019s\ntemperature increase is kept to no more than 2 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit by the\nyear 2030, the changes may be irreversible. \nRecent New York legislation has pledged to eliminate the use of fossil\nfuels to power electricity by the year 2040 and pledged to nearly eliminate\ngreenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of\ncourse, those future goals are important. \nYet, too little is discussed about the impact that global warming is having\nright now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ice\nsheets are melting, the oceans are more acidic, sea levels are rising, and\nstorms are more powerful. And those are\nhappening right now. In addition, the\nongoing and growing climate catastrophe impacts our daily lives in ways that\nare not as obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For\nexample, the increasing threat posed by algal blooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According\nto the State Department of Environmental Conservation, while most algal blooms\nare harmless, some species can pose a public health threat. In those cases, algae can produce toxins that\ncan be harmful to people and animals. These blooms usually occur in nutrient-rich\nwaters, meaning waters that receive large amounts of runoffs from residential\nand agricultural sources. When combined\nwith hot weather, dangerous blooms can occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nincidents of algal blooms have risen with the increasing temperature of the planet. Algal blooms can be toxic and when present\nwaterbodies cannot be used for recreation or even drinking. The threat has gotten worse each year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harmful\nalgal blooms aren\u2019t your typical green surface ooze that you may see on the top\nof lake waters. While ugly to look at when\nat the surface, a bloom can also be dangerous, so much so that the state has a\nblanket policy to stay out of the water should there be evidence of one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While\nevery algal bloom isn’t toxic \u2013 some algal species can produce both toxic and\nnontoxic blooms \u2013 toxic blooms can cause problems for swimmers and other\nrecreational users in the form of rashes or allergic reactions. People who swim in a bloom may experience\ndifferent side effects including nausea, vomiting, headaches, respiratory\nproblems, skin rash and other reactions. There have also been reports nationwide of\ndogs and livestock dying shortly after swimming or wading in a bloom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And\nmore ominously, these algal blooms impact the oceans too. Last week, all the of the beaches along the\nGulf Coast in the state of Mississippi were closed due to algal blooms there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These\nblooms have a blue-green slimy substance. \nThey often crop up in late summer and early fall, although scores have\nbeen reported already in New York\u2019s surface waters. Algal blooms need nutrients to bloom, so\noften they\u2019ll be observed after heavy storms when residential and agricultural\nrunoffs occur. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nnutrients they primarily rely on are phosphorus and nitrogen and the algal\nblooms have increased due to a rise in nutrient runoff from sources such as soil\nerosion from fertilized agricultural areas and lawns, erosion from river banks,\nriver beds, land clearing (deforestation), and sewage effluent. All of these are the major sources of\nphosphorus and nitrogen entering water ways. These nutrients coupled with warm, calm water\nis the recipe for an algal bloom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To check\nout the lakes in which algal blooms are a concern, you can go to the DEC website,\nwhich has a harmful algal bloom notifications webpage <\/a> that it updates weekly. (Go to www.dec.ny.gov<\/a> to see information on algal\nblooms.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Areas\nthat tend be more protected are those in which development is strictly\nregulated and waterbodies closely monitored. \nOf course, the long term solution is to wean the planet off its\naddiction to fossil fuels and develop alternative forms of energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Climate\ncatastrophe is not something that we are waiting for, it\u2019s here now and it\u2019s\ngoing to get a lot worse. As we cope, aggressive\nmeasures need to be taken to protect vital water supplies; measures that\nprotect wetlands, limit development, manage farm wastes, and monitor algal\nblooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of\ncourse, the world needs to kick the fossil fuel habit altogether and instead invest\nits resources in the development of renewable power \u2013 solar, wind, geothermal \u2013\nand better energy efficiencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Failing\nto do so will only accelerate to the point of no return the catastrophe global\nwarming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Too often the debate over the looming environmental catastrophe called \u201cclimate change\u201d is couched in the future tense. For example, the world\u2019s experts have said that unless the earth\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2270"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2271,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270\/revisions\/2271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}