Toxic Algae and Climate Change

UNC’s Hans Paerl had a recent interview on NPR’s Science Friday about nutrients, climate change, and toxic algal blooms.  While he comments on work in China, it has relevance here in NC and I wanted to pass along.  You can get a link to the story at:

http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/10/25/2013/climate-change-aids-toxic-slime-s-advance.html

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Climate Change Aids Toxic Slime’s Advance

Sewage and fertilizer runoff into China’s Lake Taihu have fed a nasty bloom: an annual explosion of frothy cyanobacteria, which release neurotoxins into the lake. Hans Paerl, a marine and environmental scientist who studies Lake Taihu, says the warmer temperatures brought by climate change only contribute to the slime’s advance.