Toxic Algae to Return to Lake Erie

Toxic algae blooms are to return to western Lake Erie this summer, threatening marine life and humans wading in these waters, according to predictions by the NOAA released Thursday.

Cyanobacteria, a harmful blue-green alga, is expected to rear its ugly head in late summer, though forecasts note that the bloom will most likely be smaller than last year's intense bloom, and considerably less than the record-setting 2011 bloom.

The algae will collect on certain shorelines instead of spreading out evenly across the lake, according to the NOAA.

"With this information, we can work collectively to understand harmful algal blooms and mitigate risk to humans and marine ecosystems," Holly Bamford, assistant NOAA administrator for the National Ocean Service, said in a statement.

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), Live Science reported.

These noxious blooms occur when fertilizer runoff feeds the runaway growth of cyanobacteria, and this is the third year the agency has warned of its presence in Lake Erie, a water source for millions of people in the United States and Canada.

The algae are harmful to both marine life and humans because decaying cyanobacteria suck up oxygen, creating dead zones. Some kinds of algae also emit toxins that damage or irritate the nerves, skin, liver and kidneys of humans and other animals.

Algal blooms choked Lake Erie waters in the 1960s and 1980s when they were in abundance, and returned with a vengeance in 2000 when farmers changed how they applied fertilizer to their crops, according to studies by researchers at the University of Michigan and other institutions. Scientists also think climate change is in part to blame as well, making Lake Erie waters warmer and more hospitable for blue-green algae.

"The reemergence of harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie is an ecological and economic setback for communities along the coast," US Representative Marcy Kaptur said in the statement.