Germany: What a Lake Says About Climate Change

[babylonsister]

Germany: What a Lake Says About Climate Change

When the East German nuclear power plant Rheinsberg was shut down almost 20 years ago, environmentalists expected that fauna and flora in nearby Stechlin lake would survive without further damage.
by Julio Godoy

The power plant in the city 75 km north of Berlin had been functioning since 1966. It took some 300,000 cubic metres of water daily from the lagoon to cool down the facility’s installations. The water would then be released back into the lake — 10 degrees warmer.

Before the plant began to function scientists had declared the waters “the cleanest in Germany,” says Peter Casper, biochemist at the Institute Leibniz for Water Ecology in Stechlin.0911 06

There was no reason then to doubt their judgement. The lake is surrounded by pristine forests, without any agriculture use. The region is also scarcely populated, guaranteeing that no sewage was channelled into the lake.

Soon after the Rheinsberg nuclear power plant began operating, scientists began to find changes, Casper told IPS. “Algae and other micro-organisms started to grow very rapidly.” The fauna started to degenerate.

“This is what we call the divergent development of the food chain,” Casper said. “Not all living organisms in the lake reacted at the same speed to changes in the environment. Algae and other micro-organisms grow more rapidly, but also start and end their life cycle more rapidly. This means that fish, which feed on algae, and do not grow at the same new speed, are deprived of their food at a critical point in their growth.”

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/11/3763/

[MissHoneychurch]

1. I used to go there on vacation in summer

with my family in the 80s. It is a beautiful lake. There was a camp ground at the lake. Still is.

So far, I can't say I feel affected in my health . My dad died of a brain tumor some years ago but that could have had different reasons. My mom and my brother are still fine too.

[babylonsister]

2. I hope you all stay fine, and thank you for the gorgeous pic! nt

[hunter]

3. I don't see this has much to do with nuclear power.

If it had been a coal power plant the situation for the lake would have been far, far worse -- especially a 'sixties East German coal plant.

No question, the lake got messed up, but it probably has more to do with temperatures and other non-nuclear sorts of environmental assaults, especially air pollution. The German air, East and West, is not clean and carrys a lot of industrial toxins and stuff that favors the growth of undesirable micro-organisms..

[babylonsister]

4. You're right, it was posted here due to the title - climate change

and how it's affecting the environment.

[hunter]

5. The image posted with the article makes me question the intent.

fossil fuels cause climate change; nuclear, not so much...

Send in the clowns.

[MissHoneychurch]

6. That picture was taken in Gorleben

which is a total different city and has nothing to do with Lake Stechlin. There have been demonstrations going on in Gorleben the last years. Nothing unusual.

[hunter]

7. Read the headlines only, look at picture, and it is misleading.

Right out of the Fox News play book...

Germany: What a Lake Says About Climate Change

When the East German nuclear power plant Rheinsberg was shut down almost 20 years ago, environmentalists expected that fauna and flora in nearby Stechlin lake would survive without further damage.

Shades of Chernobyl... If you don't read the article, the impression you get is that the lake is a smoldering ruin of lingering radioactivity. And the next thing you know they are building a new coal fired plant down the road from you and you are glad that it's not a nuclear plant.