{"id":203196,"date":"2026-03-24T00:28:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T00:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/203196\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T00:28:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T00:28:07","slug":"florida-residents-voice-concerns-after-the-department-of-health-lifts-blue-green-algae-alerts-at-lake-jackson-the-famuan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/203196\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida residents voice concerns after the Department of Health lifts blue-green algae alerts at Lake Jackson \u2013 The FAMUAN"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Signage outside of Florida\u2019s Health Department in Tallahassee. (Naji Rutherford\/FAMUAN)<\/p>\n

The Florida Department of Health lifted previous health alerts at Lake Jackson after water samples showed harmful blue-green algae blooms in the lake. As the public was advised to stay away from the water to avoid toxins, the persisting warm climate continues to raise communal concerns about whether these blue-green algae blooms will reappear and how they\u2019ll affect Florida\u2019s ecosystem.<\/p>\n

According to the CDC<\/a>, the United States had 372 cyanobacterial events, also known as blue-green algae, resulting in 95 human and over 100,000 animal illnesses, occurring primarily in freshwater lakes in 2022. Nutrient pollution, warm water temperatures and excessive sunlight intensify these harmful conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe blooms are usually caused by some sort of input of nutrients, usually nitrogen and phosphorus,\u201d said Charles H. Jagoe, a Florida A&M University School of the Environment professor. \u201cThey basically act as fertilizer and cause the algae to proliferate.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Protecting Florida Together<\/a>, blue-green algae function similarly to plants, using light energy to produce nutrients to grow. Rapid growth of algae, also known as blooms, occurs when algae cells rapidly accumulate, causing water discoloration and a floating mat-like appearance that produces an odor and affects aquatic animals.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the Lake Jackson area is considered a fishing hotspot and has an abundance of arable farmlands. From an agricultural standpoint, blue-green algae pollution can negatively impact irrigation and livestock, as the toxins can contaminate crops and harm animals. Tallahassee residents have expressed concerns about these algal blooms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe photosynthesis process that the plants are doing is going to oversaturate the water with oxygen\u2026 it can cause most, if not all, of the aquatic life in the water to die,\u201d Adia Richardson, an environmental studies student and member of FAMU\u2019s Sustainability Club, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite their photosynthetic nature, blue-green algae are not essential to the ecosystem because most organisms prefer not to eat them. While these algal blooms have occurred for centuries, scientists are now starting to understand the risks posed to humans, animals and ecosystems, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen there\u2019s too much of the algae, it shields the sunlight coming into the fish,\u201d Bianca Morris, an agribusiness student focused on environmental protection, said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like an invasive species where it takes over the environment in that capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n

These harmful algal blooms also deprive marine systems of oxygen and produce toxins, causing sickness in humans and animals. Breathing in airborne droplets and direct contact with the blooms cause symptoms such as rashes, eye irritation, sore throats and coughing. In more extreme cases, symptoms from swallowing these toxins include vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness and liver damage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a poor indicator of where we are as humans and our relationship with the environment,\u201d Richardson said. \u201cThe fact that algae blooms are happening means something is out of equilibrium.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Signage outside of Florida\u2019s Health Department in Tallahassee. (Naji Rutherford\/FAMUAN) The Florida Department of Health lifted previous health…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-203196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}