SAO PAULO (AP) — The lake in Sao Paulo’s iconic Ibirapuera Park has turned green in recent weeks. Brazil struggles with a historical one droughtboth funny and alarming park visitors.
The green color results from a combination of algae blooms, abundant nutrients, high temperatures and a lack of rain in the Brazilian metropolis, city hall said in a statement on Thursday. It added that the lake’s low water level makes it more difficult for a pump to remove the algae.
Sidney Cardoso, a 49-year-old photographer, said he had never seen the lake water look so green.
“We know it’s different when it’s completely full,” he said.
Ibirapuera is considered the largest park in Sao Paulo and is close to the city center. It is home to the Afro Brazil Museum and the pavilion that hosts the Sao Paulo Art Biennale. The lake is sometimes called ‘the soul of the park’. Many paulistanos, as Sao Paulo residents are known, enjoy exercising in the neighborhood every day, and thousands of families come to picnic and exercise in the area on weekends.
The green hue of the lake is just the latest reflection of the harsh climatic conditions. Drought earlier this month turned the Pinheiros River in Sao Paulo greenalso due to an algae bloom. And the the sky of the city turned gray, filled with smoke from afar fires in the Amazon rainforest.
Next to the lake, Silvia Alves, a nutritionist who often exercises there, said Thursday that she felt the algae had improved air quality in the area.
“As I breathe, I become more euphoric than normal,” she said after a series of jumping jacks.
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