Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Toxic algae in Klamath River

It seemed that things couldn't get worse in the Klamath River--and then things got a LOT WORSE.

Toxic algae blooms are now a serious human health risk in the Klamath River, and serious harm could come from drinking just a few ounces of water accidentally while skiing or swimming. Much of the area looks unsafe, like a "radioactive putting green" according to an observer, but the toxin is stable in water for weeks and harmful levels of toxin could remain when the water looks fine.

Oh great, now the Klamath River system is toxic to people and not just to fish. Maybe this is what it takes to get serious attention on the problem. This ought to be enough to get serious attention, right? Blogfish will follow this story for you, since the algae mess goes nicely with the blogfish color scheme.

photo: Karuk tribe

No comments: