Hot weather accelerates toxic algal blooms, but nutrient pollution provides the fuel.
Articles on Blue-green algae
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The blooms have become an annual problem in the Great Lakes. DNA studies show what’s growing there and why it’s dangerous.
New techniques monitor the health of lakes in real time by analyzing their microbiome to anticipate and respond to environmental threats such as cyanobacteria.
For the first time, we calculated Australia’s share of planetary environmental boundaries and found we’ve shot past three already.
Pollution from more frequent floods and wildfires – exacerbated by the warming climate – is threatening human health and poses particular risks to the brain.
Mass fish deaths are a blaring warning sign for the heath of the Murray Darling Basin, but just as worrying is the sight of dry areas in the Darling.
Public confidence in the institutions in charge of the Murray Darling Basin has plummeted – with good reason.
Hundreds of thousands of fish have died in low-oxygen water. Here’s what actually happened to the oxygen, and why we might see more deaths in the coming weeks.
Algae blooms have killed hundreds of thousands of fish in the last two weeks, but what exactly are they and how do we get them under control?
Did you recently hear news that Earth’s oldest pigments were hot pink? That’s not quite right. When they were in living bacteria a billion years ago, they were performing photosynthesis – and green.
Toxic algae blooms like the intense one now fouling Florida’s waterways harm wildlife and people in various ways. They’re also on the rise.
Toxic algal blooms were unheard of in Australia’s major waterways before 1991. Now the Murray River has been struck by four major events in less than a decade, with more likely in the future.
For the first time, researchers have shown that feeding vervet monkeys a toxin produced by blue-green algae resulted in protein deposits in the brain, consistent with those seen in human Alzheimer’s.
With El Niño ramping up, Australia is in for a long, hot, dry summer - perfect conditions for blue-green algae. And that innocuous-looking pond scum can pack a toxic punch if you’re not careful.
The world’s oceans are plagued with the problem of “dead zones”, areas of high nutrients (such as nitrogen and phosphorus) in which plankton blooms cause a major reduction of oxygen levels in the water…
Scientists have known for some time now that exposure to blue-green algae is linked to increased incidence of several neurodegenerative diseases. But the reason for the link has been a mystery until now…
Top contributors
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Professor - Australian Rivers Institute, and Dean - Research Infrastructure, Griffith University
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Honorary Research Fellow, Macquarie University
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Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions, Australian National University
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Environmental Scientist, La Trobe University
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Associate Professor of Biological Oceanography, University of South Florida
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Research scientist, Australian National Algae Culture Collection, CSIRO
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Professor Emerita of Biology, Indiana University
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Marie Curie post-doctoral researcher, Lund University
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Emeritus Professor of Medicine, Drexel University
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Senior Research Manager, Climateworks Centre
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Chercheuse en écologie et génomique microbionne, Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS)
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Associate professor, Centre Eau Terre Environnement, Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS)
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PhD candidate in water sciences, Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS)
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Professor of Biology, University of Michigan
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Associate Professor in Biotherapeutics, Dublin City University