"Algae Bloom Fouls N.J.’s Largest Lake, Indicating Broader Crisis"

"Lake Hopatcong, normally buzzing with swimmers and water skiers, is filled with cyanobacteria in quantities never before recorded."

"LAKE HOPATCONG, New Jersey — Around Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey’s largest lake, workers have been laid off, sailing lessons canceled and summers ruined. The reason: clouds of blue-green algae in the water, blooming in quantities never before recorded.

State warnings that the water is unsafe — which began in June and remain in effect for all but one small branch of the lake — have come during a summer of unusually intense algae blooms in many parts of the country. Fueled by heavy rains and hot, sunny days, the blooms have caused high-season swimming bans from lakes in the Pacific Northwest to the entire Mississippi seacoast.

Climate change is a likely factor, scientists say, in an increase in blooms of cyanobacteria — single-cell organisms that, when they grow densely, can produce toxic substances. "

Anne Barnard reports for the New York Times August 5, 2019.

Source: NY Times, 08/07/2019