Warm August weather favours growth of algae both at sea and in lakes

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The recent warm weather conditions have encouraged the rapid growth of blue-green algae both in Finnish coastal waters and in lakes.
      In some places algae concentrations have already risen and surface mats have been found in large quantities. If the current warm and calm weather continues, the situation could get appreciably worse.
     
Currently, large rafts of blue-green algae are drifting in the Gulf of Finland, in the Archipelago Sea, in the Sea of Aland, and in the Bothnian Sea.
      Observations of blue-green algae have already been made at more than 50 of the 260 monitoring sites on Finnish inland waters. Moreover, one in ten lakes is suffering from an excessive growth of algae.
      "Like the end of the world", Karl-Erik Sjöberg, a resident on the island of Utö, described the scenes on the Fladan narrows south of Borgå.
     
According to senior researcher Heikki Pitkänen from the Finnish Environment Institute, nutrient emissions by agriculture are large, particularly into the Archipelago Sea, and the undesirable effects resulting from eutrophication could be decreased by domestic emission restrictions. However, the situation in the entire Baltic Sea cannot be changed by the improvements made in Finland alone.
      Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sirkka-Liisa Anttila is not willing to put the blame on Finnish agriculture alone.
      "Even if Finnish agricultural production were to end entirely, the Baltic Sea could not be rescued", Anttila comments bluntly.
      However, Anttila is confident that the EU environmental action programme will advance the common efforts to combat the eutrophication problem in the Baltic.
      Toxic blue-green algae often appears in the Gulf of Finland and other parts of the Baltic Sea in warm summers. Its growth is encouraged by phosphorous in the sea, and the algae adds to the problem of eutrophication by extracting nitrogen from the air.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Experts fear more toxic blue-green algae than last year (29.5.2007)
  Summer temperature record broken on Tuesday (8.8.2007)

Links:
  Finnish Environment Institute
  Cyanobacteria (Wikipedia)

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