密歇根新闻广播 全球变暖导致出现更多有毒花朵

 

There’s a green bloom of cyanobacteria on Lake Erie again. People who run water utilities and scientists are watching the bloom because the cyanobacteria can produce toxins¹ called microcystins that are dangerous for people and pets. It's what made Toledo’s drinking water unsafe to drink in 2014.

Chris Winslow directs Ohio Sea Grant and Ohio State University’s Stone Laboratory. He says the bloom’s covering about 10% of the western basin.

“Latest reports show that most of it’s either on the west coast of Lake Erie, up along Michigan, or moving its way through the center part of the lake,” he says.

Winslow says the size of the bloom depends on the amount of rain that flows down the Maumee River in Ohio between March and July.

“We were anticipating a bloom somewhere between a seven and an eight on a scale of 10. I would say we have not reached a biomass or a bloom of that size yet, and that makes sense given the fact that temperatures have been fairly cool over the last couple weeks and we’ve had some pretty windy days,” he says.

He says the blooms need somewhat calm waters and hotter days to set up.

But he says cities like Toledo that have water intake² pipes in the lake are staying on alert. That’s because the blooms can grow through August and September, and even into October.

Climate change is expected to make these toxic³ blooms happen more often.

Steve Chapra is the lead author of a new study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. He’s a professor and the Berger Chair of civil and environmental engineering in the School of Engineering at Tufts University.

"As such, they’ve been subjected to cold temperatures, and the warmest that the planet has ever seen and they’ve adapted to it. So they’re very resilient organisms. And in particular, compared to other phytoplankton, they have the tolerance⁴ for the highest temperatures," says Chapra.

He says his team's research shows cyanobacterial blooms are likely to increase significantly in our warming climate. But some regions, such as the Great Lakes, could see more blooms than other regions.

He notes that climate change is already bringing more intense rainstorms, and that can affect the amount of nutrients⁵ that wash into lakes, such as Lake Erie.

"You’re going to wind up having more nutrients wash into the system, and in that system, the temperature is making more cyanobacteria; well, the nutrients are compounding that," he says.

1 toxins   

n.毒素( toxin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The seas have been used as a receptacle for a range of industrial toxins. 海洋成了各种有毒工业废料的大容器。
• Most toxins are naturally excreted from the body. 大部分毒素被自然排出体外。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 intake   

n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口

参考例句：

• Reduce your salt intake.减少盐的摄入量。
• There was a horrified intake of breath from every child.所有的孩子都害怕地倒抽了一口凉气。

3 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

4 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

5 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》