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Blue-Green Algae, or Cyanobacteria, have an optimal growth temperature that is 20° F higher than regular algae.

As more algae and plants grow, others die, creating a lot of dead organic matter to be decomposed by bacteria.

This causes bacteria to increase in number and use up all the oxygen in the water.

Thus many fish and other aquatic organisms cannot survive, killing off all of these organisms.

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Algal blooms, such as the one in Lake Temescal, are becoming more common either directly or indirectly because of human impact.

The largest cause of these algal blooms is an excess of nutrients (particularly phosphorus and nitrogen) in the water.

This is mostly due to runoff of synthetic fertilizers from sources such as lawns and farms.

High rainfall also facilitates this runoff into rivers, streams, and ponds, so algal blooms are also seen in years with more rainfall.

Increasing temperatures due to climate change are one major cause of these toxic algal blooms.

Because the algae are photosynthetic, more sunlight also increases algal blooms, as well as slow-moving water.

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The algal blooms that are toxic are caused by blue-green algae that aren’t technically algae at all; they are a photosynthetic bacteria called Cyanobacteria that release a toxin.

This toxin affects the nervous system if consumed, causing severe illness in humans and possibly even death in dogs and other wildlife.