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By the 1960s, Lake Erie had become extremely polluted, in part due to the heavy industry that lined its shores in Cleveland and other cities. Factories dumped pollutants into the lake and the waterways that flowed into it (like the Cuyahoga River) without much government oversight.
The degradation of the Lake's water quality and the burning of the Cuyahoga River in the 1960s and 1970s made it the poster child for pollution problems in the world and paved the way for the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, the formation of USEPA, NOAA, and Environment and Climate Change Canada, the first Earth Day, and the passage of the C...
In the 1960s, giant algae blooms spread across the lake, fueled by industrial pollution, sewage and farm runoff.
Excessive algal growth in Lake Erie threatens the ecosystem and human health of a waterbody that provides drinking water for 12 million people in the U.S. and Canada. Algae can persist for weeks during summer by blooms carried by winds and currents eastward through the lake.
In the late 1960s, all along the Great Lake shores, collections of junk contributed to a mass of waste being used as landfill. Especially in the shores of Lake Erie, the piles of trash suffocate fish, fill the shorelines with untreated wastes, and slowly contribute to the lake's premature death.
Since European colonization, Lake Erie has been subject to nutrient pollution and ecosystem disturbances brought about by increased agriculture and invasive species that, in turn, have led to water quality fluctuations.
Though it initially caught the attention of few Cleveland residents, the Cuyahoga River Fire stoked the rest of the nation’s awareness of the environmental and health threats of river...
In the 1960s and 1970s, phosphorous levels in Lake Erie rose and led to the production of algal blooms, which severely threatened the well-being of the lake. The issue challenged scientists, troubling the public and stirring concern among government officials.
The lake's extreme productivity and poor management allowed the zebra mussel and many other aquatic invasive species to enter and thrive. Good management in the 1970s and 1980s restored water quality and allowed the lake to become the Walleye Capital of the World.
Lake Erie acquired worldwide notoriety during the 1960s as one of nature's treasures that had been "killed" by pollution. However, it became evident by. greatly exaggerated. Because of its shallowness and the great volume of water that flows through it, Lake Erie can cleanse itself in about six years if pollution is stopped.