Global warming: Blooms of cyanobacteria resulting in potentially dangerous levels of toxins in some reservoirs

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

A bloom of cyanobacteria in the ocean near Fiji. Photo courtesy NASA.

Warming waters cited as key factor in new Spanish health study

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The impacts of global warming are often described in the context of human activities or how it will affect charismatic megafauna and visible landscape features.

But at a much more fundamental biological level, increasing temperatures also appear to be having a huge effect on basic ecosystem components like bacteria — especially cyanobacteria, blue-green aquatic organisms that helped oxygenate the earth’s atmosphere during the early stages of life’s development on the planet, 3.5 million years ago.

According to a study by Spanish researchers, populations of cyanobacteria are increasing, with no signs of a slow down. The study suggests global warming is the cause, and warns that the accelerated growth may also lead to an increase in the amount of toxins produced by some of these populations.

(more…)

Filed under: climate and weather, Environment, global warming, Health | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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