Lakes Sink into Deep Eco-Trouble

Feb 03, 08:04 AM

Current Headlines: MANY British lakes have "severely stressed" ecological systems and need cleaning up after years of pollution, the the Environment Agency warned today.

Scientists want to "rehabilitate" more than a third of the 1,047 most ecologically valuable lakes that have been contaminated by agricultural chemicals and sewage, Human activity has put increasing pressure on lakes over the last half century, the agency's researchers found.

Many are now plagued with blue green algal scum along the shoreline in the summer.

In Cumbria, the population of arctic charr in Windermere has declined, as has the number of rare vendace in Lake Bassenthwaite.

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