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Climate Change Bingo: Trump’s Green Reflecting Pool

“Make Algae Great Again”

The story of the week — one of many — is how Trump spent $14 million of our tax dollars to paint the capitol’s iconic reflecting pool swimming-pool blue, and now it’s an algae -filled puke green mess.

This Huffpost article brings in a climate change angle: Thanks to global warming, Washington D.C. is experiencing and unusually hot heat wave, and heat causes algae blooms. We can expect more algae blooms in bodies of water all over as climate change progresses.

Scroll down to the end of the article for the climate change angle. Excerpts:

“Puke green” and “split pea soup” are just two of the phrases being used to describe President Donald Trump’s algae-filled, green Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, as well as some catchy phrases like “Make Algae Great Again” and “Make Algae Green Again.” …

Climate change is only going to make algae a bigger problem in this pool and beyond.

“The real basic problem is algae like it hot … so to speak, and this is probably the worst time if you’re hoping to keep clear water in a place like the Reflecting [Pool], because it’s hot,” said Paerl.

This is the hottest time of year in D.C.

“It’s usually a decrease in the temperature that will dissipate the blooms, and of course, given climate change … these kinds of issues and problems are only going to get worse,” added Paerl.

For example, algae blooms weren’t really a problem in Nordic countries and more northern latitudes, but over the last several decades as climate change becomes more severe, blooms are popping up in the northern Canadian lakes and Nordic countries, he said.

In these places, “temperatures are increasing, and they’re making it more amenable for these blooms to grow, develop, and persist,” noted Paerl.

It’s also warmer for longer each year — meaning, they get high in early spring and stay high well into the fall — which gives these blooms more of an opportunity to bloom earlier in the year and stay in bloom longer, he added.

“The window of opportunity for these blooms is expanding because of climate warming,” said Paerl.

Workers are seen here on June 14 trying to clean up the algae in the pool. [source: cited article]