Current Affair 1:

News:

Some four years after the mysterious death of nearly 400 African elephants in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, remote sensing and spatial analysis suggest that the massive die-off was a result of drinking from stagnant water holes (pans) where toxic algae populations had exploded due to climate change.

Until now, there was no evidence to support the widely debated idea that poisoning was the cause of these deaths in May-June of 2020.

The climate crisis is increasing the intensity and severity of harmful algal blooms. After drinking the affected water pans, elephants of all ages were spotted walking in circles before collapsing and dying.

Harmful effects of algae boom?

1. Climate change will lead to higher air temperatures which can have a corresponding effect on raising water temperatures.
2. Higher water temperatures combined with increased stormwater runoff of nutrients can result in conditions favorable for algal blooms.
3. Consequently, with a changing climate, harmful algal blooms can occur more often, in more fresh or marine waterbodies, and can be more intense.
4. An increase in harmful algal blooms (HABs) can affect the quality of source water and increase the need for drinking water treatment.
5. Harmful algal blooms may pose a threat to public health through diminishing source water quality or through affecting individuals with respiratory conditions.
6. Harmful algal blooms sometimes create toxins that can kill fish and other animals.
7. Even if algal blooms are not toxic, they can hurt aquatic life by blocking out sunlight and clogging fish gills.
8. Harmful algal blooms can also create “dead zones,” areas in water with little or no oxygen where aquatic life cannot survive.
9. Accordingly, an increase in harmful algal bloom occurrences can adversely affect the effectiveness of ecosystem protection efforts.

 

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