İn  early June, people in the area of Salem, the capital city of the American state of Oregon, received a warning on their cellphones. City officials sent a message that read: “Civil emergency. Prepare for action.”

Within half an hour, the officials sent out a second message. They explained they were not warning of possible violence. The emergency was dangerous bacteria in the city’s drinking water.

Microscopic plant-life called algae had suddenly appeared and spread in the local water supply. These so-called algae blooms poison water. Such events are increasing in lakes across the United States. Researchers say the rise in algae blooms is connected to the planet’s rising temperature, or global warming.

The researchers say this raises more questions about the effects global warming might have on human health. Wayne Carmichael is an algae expert formerly with Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. He worked with the World Health Organization to set the first guidelines on safe algae levels for humans.

Carmichael says as bodies of water around the world warm, there are going to be more incidents of sudden algae growth.

“That’s just logical, and it’s being borne out,” he told the Associated Press.

Aliqismet BADALOV,
“Khalq qazeti”