Algae Crisis Pt. I: From Farm To Lakeshore

By Karen Schaffer for ideastream®

Last year, a toxic algae bloom the size of Long Island carpeted Lake Erie and its shoreline from Toledo all the way to Cleveland and beyond. Scientists say it was even worse than the blooms of the 1960s, when Lake Erie was “unofficially” declared dead. Managing algae will be one of the key topics next week when researchers, environmental advocates and officials from several states, plus Canada, gather in Cleveland for a three day conference on the Great Lakes. Independent producer Karen Schaefer sets the stage with this two-part series on algae. She starts her reporting from what researchers say is the main source of the problem…Ohio’s farm fields.

Listen to the full story from Cleveland’s ideastream >