Algae explosion threatens Great Lakes tourism for third consecutive year
Skift Take
Local fertilizer runoff causes the algae growth that’s impacted the lake’s tourism profits year after year, highlighting the interconnection of agriculture, health, and tourism economies in one small ecosystem.
Experts are predicting the toxic blue-green algae outbreak in the western basin of Lake Erie this summer will be more significant than last year but much smaller than the bloom that blanketed about two-thirds of the lake two summers ago.
The forecast predicts a "significant bloom" in that part of the lake will begin in August. But it's expected to be about one-fifth the size of the 2011 bloom that hampered tourism and drew headlines as one of the worst on record.
The National Ocean
