With climate change causing sea temperatures to rise, bathing may become less safe. Bacteria such as Vibrio, which can infect humans, thrive in these warmer waters, as do harmful algal blooms.

Our study looks at the impact of climate change on bacterial communities and algal blooms. How can we better understand this relationship, and from our research, develop strategies to protect human health?

A team from Deltares along with researchers from the Universities of Exeter and Bangor are getting up close to Vibrio and faecal bacteria (in the hope that we won’t have to).

What are we doing?

Our goal is to study Vibrio bacteria and their relationship with high algal biomass, and monitoring the distribution of the bacteria. In addition, laboratory experiments will provide more insight into the relation between plankton, Vibrio, and climate variables.

Timeline

The work on Vibrio takes place at Lake Grevelingen in the Netherlands.
The research team is:

Why is this important?

This case study will provide more insight into bacterial communities, their ecology, and how they react to climate change. This will help us understand current and future health risks.

The current models for Vibrio don’t take into account the impact of nutrient conditions, affected by temperature, sediment and overflow. By delivering more advanced models, we can support local authorities, consultancy companies and other researchers.

Accurate forecasting will provide early warning of bacterial presence, which is great news for recreational water users such as swimmers. In the future, we hope that our Vibrio and faecal bacteria models will actively protect the health of bathers and others.