Credit Lester Graham / Michigan Radio
New research finds the annual dead zone in Lake Erie is getting a boost that makes it worse very quickly.
That dead zone begins with nutrients, phosphorus, from agricultural runoff and other sources carried by rivers to the lake. Phosphorus fertilizes algae. The plants grow fast, then die and rot. The decomposition process robs the water of oxygen.
It’s been known that when the oxygen is gone, it triggers a release of natural phosphorus from the sediment at the lake’s bottom, expanding the dead zone. That phosphorus comes from the microscopic plants and organisms decaying on the bottom of the lake.
Robotic laboratories on the bottom of Lake Erie have revealed that the muddy sediments there release nearly as much of the nutrient phosphorus into the surrounding waters as enters the lake s central basin each year from rivers and their tributaries.
Excessive phosphorus, largely from agricultural sources, contributes to the annual summer cyanobacteria bloom that plagues Lake Erie s western basin and the central basin s annual dead zone, an oxygen-starved region that blankets several thousand square miles of lake bottom and that reduces habitat for fish and other organisms.
The release of phosphorus from Lake Erie sediments during periods of low oxygen a phenomenon known as self-fertilization or internal loading has been acknowledged since the 1970s. But the new University of Michigan-led study marks the first time the process has been monitored step by step for an entire season using lake-bottom sensors.
Release of nutrients from lake-bottom sediments worsens Lake Erie s annual dead zone, could intensify as climate warms miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Chainsaw-Wielding Man Crashes McDonald’s Store In Portland To Steal Meal
Dec 17 2020, 01:03PM EST
A 26-year-old man caused quite a stir in Portland yesterday, barging into a McDonald’s store and chasing away employees. He ended up stealing food and a drink before leaving.
The man, identified as Alice Sweet, did not stop there. When the store manager tried to confront him in the parking lot, he chased the employee with a chainsaw too. This left vehicles in the area damaged according to an official release from the Westbrook Maine Police Department.
The incident was called at about 3:30 p.m. reporting Sweet chasing employees inside the fast food store. When police arrived at the scene, they found Sweet at the VIP Tires on Riverside street. The 26-year-old tried to run away from officers but was eventually caught and detained. Photos of his actions were taken by bystanders and spread over social media.