Currently in Toronto — July 8th, 2022
The weather, currently.
We have a very comfortable weekend on the way! Friday morning will start under variable skies and a wake-up temperature near 18 degrees. While the storm track remains well south of the lower great lakes, there is a weak cold front that will pass thru the region tomorrow. It has very little moisture to work with, however there is still a slight risk of a passing shower in the early afternoon. Otherwise bright skies with a high of 27°C, which will seem more like 30°C with the humidex. The UV index will be 9 or very high.
Friday Night: Mainly clear, with a low 16°C.
Behind the front, some cooler air pushes in, dropping our temperatures just below the seasonal mark for the weekend. It will be sunny and very pleasant both Saturday and Sunday!
What you need to know, currently.
NOAA is predicting a less damaging algal bloom for Lake Erie this year. It’s expected to start in mid-July and to measure only 3.5 on the severity index — last year’s bloom was a 6.
“Toxic algae affect not only the health of people and marine ecosystems, but also the health and vibrancy of local and regional economies,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, Assistant Administrator for NOAA’s National Ocean Service.
The forecast is part of NOAA’s Ecological Forecasting Service, which predicts ecological conditions that are often tied to, and exacerbated by, climate change and the weather.
Many scientists believe Harmful Algae Blooms (or HABS) are worsened by climate change, although a 2021 paper in Nature found the situation was slightly more complex. HABS may seem to be increasing because of more intense oversight, but their effects aren’t being felt equally across the globe. HABS were found to be increasing in Central and South America, but decreasing in Australia and New Zealand.
Study co-author Henrik Envoldsen explained that because of the emerging aquaculture industry and increased monitoring due to climate change, we’re noticing more about the world.
“Some [HABs] are more related to the fact that we are everywhere,” Envoldsen told Mongabay. “And then we encounter what has always been there as a part of a natural ecosystem.”