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Why they began dyeing the Chicago River green : NPR

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St. Patrick’s Day: Why they began dyeing the Chicago River green : NPR

As the city grew in size, efforts to clean the river increased, including the construction of waste treatment plants and even a canal that permanently reversed the flow of the river, bringing clean water from Lake Michigan into the mouth of the river.

When Richard J. Daley took office as the mayor of Chicago in 1955 he was determined to develop the riverfront and tasked city workers with finding where the sewage was coming from. They used the green dye to help identify the source of the waste.

Dendritic

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‘Dendritic’ means like branches like a tree. It’s often used to describe rivers that have many branches, especially over a small area as seen with the Wateman and Utley Brooks in East Otto State Forest, or even the many small kills and creeks that dominate the landscape near Bethlehem.

Smaller summer harmful algal bloom predicted for western Lake Erie | University of Michigan News

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Smaller summer harmful algal bloom predicted for western Lake Erie | University of Michigan News

University of Michigan researchers and their partners are forecasting that western Lake Erie will experience a smaller-than-average harmful algal bloom this summer.

A relatively dry spring is expected to lead to a repeat of last year’s mild bloom, marking the first time in more than a dozen years that mild Lake Erie blooms have occurred in consecutive summers.

This year’s bloom is expected to measure 3—the same size as last year’s bloom—with a potential range of 2-4.5 out of 10 on the severity index, according to the annual Lake Erie forecast released today by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which funds the research. The 2021 bloom is expected to be among the smaller blooms since 2011.

NPR

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Ship Sinking Off Sri Lanka May Become A Lasting Disaster : NPR

A sinking cargo ship off the coast of Sri Lanka is causing an environmental disaster for the country that looks set to have long-term effects.

The X-Press Pearl caught fire on May 20 and burned for two weeks, but the fire appears to have mostly burned out. The crew was evacuated. The ship is now partially sitting on the seabed with its front settling down slowly.

Its cargo is the concern: The ship was carrying dangerous chemicals, including 25 tons of nitric acid and 350 tons of fuel oil. The ship's operator says oil has not spilled so far. But what's already having an impact on beaches nearby are the 78 metric tons of plastic called nurdles — the raw material used to make most types of plastic products.

Wave after wave of plastic pellets are washing ashore. The ship is about 5 miles from the nearest beach.