First a river ran blood red. Now Argentina’s beloved giant rodent, the capybara, has been coated in Hulk-green slime as pollution turns the country’s waterways traffic light colours.<\/p>\n
The capybara, also known as a carpincho<\/em> or chiguire, is the world’s largest rodent, measuring up to 1.35 meters (four\u00a0feet four inches) in length and weighing up to 80 kilogrammes (176 pounds).<\/p>\n An AFP photographer snapped several of the tufty creatures that had been stained pea green along the Uruguay River north of Buenos Aires on Thursday where a rotten smell hangs in the air and dead fish lay strewn on the banks.<\/p>\n Each year, bacteria cause a thick greenish layer to coat the shores around the Salto Grande hydroelectric dam, on Argentina’s border with Uruguay. The phenomenon has increased in intensity in recent years.<\/p>\n These cyanobacteria \u00abare photosynthetic organisms that perform an important function in the ecosystem,\u00bb Diego Frau, a biologist at the National Institute of Limnology told AFP.\u00a0<\/p>\n But in high concentrations they can be destructive and toxic, he said.<\/p>\n High temperatures and high levels of nutrients in the water, partly driven by livestock farming, causes the algae to spread.<\/p>\n Climate change is causing the green tide, which can last for several weeks, to become \u00abincreasingly recurrent,\u00bb damaging ecosystems, he said.<\/p>\n In people, mild exposure to the bacteria can cause skin conditions or \u00abflu-like symptoms\u00bb such as diarrhoea, vomiting and headaches, Martin Novoa, a biologist at the Faculty of Food Sciences at the National University of Entre R\u00edos, told AFP. \u00a0<\/p>\n Prolonged exposure can lead to liver and nervous system complications, he added.<\/p>\n At least 15 municipalities in Buenos Aires province have issued health alerts over the bacteria.<\/p>\n The outbreak comes a week after a stream running through a town near Buenos Aires turned blood red and emitted a foul smell.<\/p>\n The stream flows through an area of textile and hide processing factories.<\/p>\n Residents accused factories of dumping waste in the river.<\/p>\n Environmental officials are studying the cause of the discolouration, which lasted a few hours.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2013 TIMES\/AFP<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\nrelated news<\/h6>\n<\/p>\n<\/section>\n