{"id":13597,"date":"2025-02-19T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=13597"},"modified":"2025-02-13T17:00:32","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T17:00:32","slug":"lake-victoria-cyanobacteria-toxic-algal-blooms-february-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/lake-victoria-cyanobacteria-toxic-algal-blooms-february-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Lake Victoria is turning green \u2013 the deadly bacteria behind it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n Lauren Hart<\/a>, University of Michigan<\/a><\/em>; George S Bullerjahn<\/a>, Bowling Green State University<\/a><\/em>; Gregory J. Dick<\/a>, University of Michigan<\/a><\/em>, and Kefa M. Otiso<\/a>, Bowling Green State University<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

Lakes, natural and man-made, provide water, food and habitats for wildlife, as well as supporting local economies. Around the world, though, there\u2019s a growing threat to lakes: toxic bacteria which turn the water green. <\/p>\n\n

This is the same green as you see on stagnant ponds. It\u2019s caused by tiny organisms called cyanobacteria and can be deadly<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n

Cyanobacteria thrive in warm, sunny lakes and ponds that contain excess nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients derived from fertiliser, manure and sewage. When conditions are right, cyanobacteria multiply rapidly and form smelly green scums on the water\u2019s surface. <\/p>\n\n

Known to science as cyanoHABs (cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms), the scums are harmful to livestock, wildlife, pets, people and aquatic organisms like fish. Toxins make untreated water unsafe to drink, swim in, or even touch. Sometimes they can become suspended in air and be inhaled. The cyanoHABs also harm ecosystems by depleting oxygen, killing off whatever lives in the water, and disrupting food webs and fisheries. <\/p>\n\n

CyanoHABs are a global threat and receive considerable scientific attention in North America<\/a> and Europe<\/a>. Blooms are becoming more widespread<\/a> worldwide because rising temperatures promote cyanobacterial growth and more intense rainfall delivers nutrients from the landscape. Only effective management of nutrients can reverse this trend.<\/p>\n\n

The problem is understudied in Africa\u2019s main lakes, including its largest \u2013 Lake Victoria. Past research on cyanoHABs has mostly used microscopy to study the kinds found there, but microscopy cannot differentiate between toxic and non-toxic cyanobacterial cells.<\/p>\n\n

We are on a large project<\/a> team of scientists who have been studying the socioeconomic and environmental effects of cyanoHABs in the Winam Gulf region of Lake Victoria in south-western Kenya. <\/p>\n\n

Our latest study<\/a> identified which cyanobacteria were the most abundant in the gulf and which ones were producing the main toxin of concern. <\/p>\n\n

These findings can improve public safety:<\/p>\n\n