Lake Windermere is turning GREEN thanks to tourists: Shocking images show the ... trends now
Tourists making a trip to the Lake District this summer might be looking forward to cooling off in the deep blue waters of Lake Windermere.
But as the temperatures rise, holidaymakers might be shocked to find that the UK's biggest lake has turned a shocking emerald green.
Scientists from Map Impact now say that it might be tourists themselves who are to blame for this yearly transformation.
A study funded by the UK Space Agency found that sewage from the hundreds of thousands of visitors fuels the algal blooms which threaten wildlife and people.
Richard Flemmings, CEO of Map Impact, told MailOnline: 'We're able to see a link between increasing numbers of people and increasing algal strength.
Tourists may be causing Lake Windermere (pictured) to turn green as their sewage fuels massive algal blooms each summer
Each summer Lake Windermere has started to turn green as warmer temperatures make algal blooms more and more likely
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In the last few years, Lake Windermere has started to become alarmingly green each summer as warmer temperatures help the algae to grow faster.
During a heatwave in 2022, for example, tourists were warned to avoid Lake Windermere's water as the lake was overwhelmed by a blue-green algal bloom.
However, the researchers discovered that it isn't just warmer summers that are responsible for this change.
The team compared anonymised phone data with satellite recordings of chlorophyll levels in the lake.
They discovered that there was a link between the high numbers of tourists and algal blooms in the next few days, whether the weather was hot or not.
Mr Flemmings says: 'What we're seeing with those spikes in tourist season is algae events three to five days later.
The researchers found that algal blooms in the Lake District like this one in Esthwaite Water were due to increased numbers of tourists
Sewage from the 300,000 tourists arriving on some peak days adds nutrients to the water which causes algae to grow out of control
