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Scientists Solve Riddle of Toxic Algae Blooms

An anonymous reader writes with an excerpt from the Victoria Times Colonist: "After a remarkable 37-year experiment, University of Alberta scientist David Schindler and his colleagues have finally nailed down the chemical triggers for a problem that plagues thousands of freshwater and coastal ecosystems around the world." Punchline: "Phosphorus."

3 of 237 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Irony! by Atari400 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's not irony, it's phosphorousy!

    --
    IBM doesn't play chess with the Universe.
  2. What?!? by PRMan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It took 37 years to figure out that fertilizer helps plants grow?

    The plants, they won't grow...

    I'm no scientist...but have you tried, water?

    --
    Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
  3. Re:Huh? by AK+Marc · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Is there something I'm missing here?

    Read your own link, then your post. You mention phosphorus and only phosphorus. Your link mentions phosphorus and nitrogen. That's what the issue is. The common thought was that it was all fertalizer (expecially phosphorus) that caused the blooms. He showed it was phosphorus and only phosphorus and that attempts to remove nitrogen as well only exacerbated the problem. It isn't anything "new" in that phosphorus causes blooms. It is "new" in that people thought other chemicals contributed as well, and they have been found to be inconsequential.