Lake Victoria is Africa ’s orotund lake ( and the largest tropical lake in the world ) , spreading into three nation and supportingover 47 million hoi polloi . But it has a significant problem that endanger the futurity of that support – it ’s change state green .
Why is Lake Victoria turning green?
Unfortunately , this is n’t because of a St Patrick ’s Day stunt like they do with the Chicago River . The lake ’s unnatural color is due to the rise ofharmful algal blooms(HABs ) – specifically , cyanobacteria – the result of a process calledeutrophication . This is when a consistency of weewee ends up with an overindulgence of nutrients , which spark off a manna from heaven in the growth of life like flora and alga .
In the case of Lake Victoria , eutrophication and the ensue HABs have been stimulate by over a century of human bodily function place nutrients into the lake ’s water . farming run - off , sewage , and industrial wastewater have all beenlinkedto the problem , as well as the products of slash and burn practices , biomass burning , and industry being mail up into the ambience and dump down into the lake .
mood changehas contribute too . “ Blooms are becoming more far-flung worldwide because rising temperatures promote cyanobacterial growth and more intense rainfall birth food from the landscape painting , ” excuse researcher from the University of Michigan and Bowling Green State University in a man forThe Conversation .
Why is it a problem?
As we name flop at the starting signal , Lake Victoriasupports millions of people , who rely on the lake for supply of fresh urine – it ’s the second largest freshwater lake in the world , after North America ’s Lake Superior . However , HABs generate the water unsafe .
The team of researchers from the University of Michigan and Bowling Green State University , for example , of late carried out astudythat identifiedMicrocystis , a type of algae abundant in Lake Victoria ’s Winam Gulf , was producing substantial levels of a toxin call in microcystin .
“ This is a liver - damaging toxin that can wipe out farm animal , wildlife and mankind , especially those whose immune system is n’t working well , ” the team explained in The Conversation . “ In Winam Gulf , it ’s often more abundant than the health limit set by the WHO . ”
Lake Victoria also supports multitude by providing solid food , chiefly in the signifier of fish . Not only can HABs produce toxin that might harm fish and other wildlife , but eutrophication and algal blooms can also consume the lake of the atomic number 8 these organisms need to make it .
In fact , a recentstudyfound that human - driven eutrophication has drive “ major ” change in the food web in a neighborhood of the lake called Mwanza Gulf , becoming one of the driving factor for the loss of fish .
The site iseven more direin some other component of the lake , in particular the deeper regions . Some are now so oxygen - deficient that they ’re no longer subject of sustaining life at all , and as a result , they ’ve been dub “ deadened zone ” .
What can be done?
Knowing more about the cyanobacteria behind the HABs can help scientist and policymakers figure out how best to tackle them . For example , the Michigan - Bowling Green State squad ’s study was able to identify which cyanobacteria were most abundant in the Winam Gulf , and which one were bring on pertain toxins . This sort of information can give authorities a better mind of what to look out for , and then send out warnings to residents when these specific blush appear .
However , prevention is also key . class out mood change is hold up to take some doing , but on a local story , scientist havepointed towardsimproved guidelines and infrastructure for agriculture and body of water treatment , reforestation , and protecting survive land from human activity , as room to stop over excess nutrient from sire into Lake Victoria in the first place .
