The effects of global climate change will trigger enormous algae blooms in Lake Erie, even if the amount of algae-producing pollution being dumped into the lake is drastically reduced, according to a new report. 

Scientists at the American Geophysical Union's annual conference in San Francisco are releasing a report today that predicts huge algal growth in Lake Erie for decades, even if the region's policymakers are able to achieve their goal of a 40 percent reduction in farm fertilizers and other nutrients going into the water over the next 10 years.

Under one climate model, Lake Erie's number of severe blooms "will likely double over the next 100 years," according to their statement.

The findings are being released on a heels of a global accord in Paris among nearly 200 countries to collectively reduce greenhouse gases that have strongly contributed to climate change.

The Republican-controlled U.S. Congress has fought off efforts to pass climate legislation for years. That prompted the Obama administration to develop a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program called the Clean Power Plan, which imposes unprecedented limits on coal-fired power plants, the largest source of those emissions. That plan is being challenged by conservative lawmakers and utility lobbyists.

During today's news conference, scientists are discussing global implications of climate change on algae across the world, including China's Lake Taihu, which battles toxins similar to those in Lake Erie nearly year-round and provides drinking water to millions of Chinese.

While scientists wholeheartedly endorse efforts to reduce nutrient discharges on a global scale, they are issuing a stern warning that government agencies cannot rely too heavily on historical records when establishing guidelines because of how quickly Earth's climate is changing.

They are expected to say a 40 percent reduction in nutrient releases may not be enough.

They also are expected to say nutrient reductions alone won't stop algae from forming and possibly overwhelming water-treatment systems, like it did with Toledo's in 2014, when the metro region's nearly 500,000 consumers had to find alternate sources of water the first weekend of August.

The American Geophysical Union is a major scientific nonprofit group of geophysicists, with 62,000 members in 144 countries.

Contact Tom Henry at: thenry@theblade.com, 419-724-6079, or via Twitter @ecowriterohio.

First Published December 16, 2015, 7:30 p.m.