Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker set ambitious climate goals for the state. It’s far from meeting them.

By Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, WBEZ

This coverage is made possible through a partnership between WBEZ and Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Sign up for WBEZ newsletters to get local news you can trust.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/02/illinois-gov-jb-pritzker-set-ambitious-climate-goals-for-the-state-its-far-from-meeting-them/

WBEZ

Climate misinformation is rife on social media – and poised to get worse

By Jill Hopke, DePaul University

 is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.

The decision by Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to end its fact-checking program and otherwise reduce content moderation raises the question of what content on those social media platforms will look like going forward.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/02/climate-misinformation-is-rife-on-social-media-and-poised-to-get-worse/

The Conversation

Study finds winter days on the Great Lakes growing shorter due to climate change

By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio

This article was republished here with permission from Wisconsin Public Radio.

A new study builds on previous research that shows winters on the Great Lakes are growing shorter due to climate change.

The Great Lakes have been losing an average of 14 days of winter conditions each decade since 1995 due to warming air temperatures, according to the study published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Research Letters.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/01/study-finds-winter-days-on-the-great-lakes-growing-shorter-due-to-climate-change/

Wisconsin Public Radio

Many elderly Ohioans feel unprepared for severe weather, study finds

This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.

By Clara Lincolnhol, Great Lakes Echo

Ohio took a beating from a record-breaking 73 tornadoes in 2024. Twisters and other severe weather events are becoming more common in the Midwest due to climate change, and seniors are more at risk.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/01/many-elderly-ohioans-feel-unprepared-for-severe-weather-study-finds/

Great Lakes Echo

Climate takes its toll on the “cherry capital of the world”

By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio

This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.

Walking between rows of dormant cherry and apple trees in mid-November, Raul Gomez, operations manager at Wunsch Farms on the Old Mission Peninsula, pointed out sweet cherry varieties like black pearls.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/12/climate-takes-its-toll-on-the-cherry-capital-of-the-world/

Interlochen Public Radio

NOAA to study Great Lakes climate change with underwater robots

This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.

By Georgia Hill, Great Lakes Echo

As climate change increasingly shapes the Great Lakes region’s ecology and economy, scientists plan to use underwater robots to gather previously inaccessible data they say will help communities adapt.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/12/noaa-to-study-great-lakes-climate-change-with-underwater-robots/

Great Lakes Echo

Where did all the climate voters go?

By Sachi Kitajima Mulkey

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.

For those who worry about climate change all the time, the results of the November election seemed to send a clear message: American voters just don’t care as much as you do.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/where-did-all-the-climate-voters-go/

Grist

Pressed for powder, study finds ski areas are relying more on snowmaking

By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio

This article was republished here with permission from Wisconsin Public Radio.

Ski hills in Wisconsin are relying more on snowmaking and other strategies to adapt to changing snow conditions due to climate change, according to a new study.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/pressed-for-powder-study-finds-ski-areas-are-relying-more-on-snowmaking/

Wisconsin Public Radio

What Trump can do to reverse US climate policy − and what he probably can’t change

By Gautam Jain, Columbia University

 is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.

As the U.S. prepares for another Trump administration, one area unambiguously in the incoming president’s crosshairs is climate policy.

Although he has not released an official climate agenda, Donald Trump’s playbook from his last stint in the Oval Office and his frequent complaints about clean energy offer some clues to what’s ahead.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/trump-climate-policy-impact/

The Conversation

4 things to know about a youth-led court case against Ontario’s climate plans

By Fatima Syed, The Narwhal

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS, Michigan Public and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/4-things-to-know-about-a-youth-led-court-case-against-ontarios-climate-plans/

The Narwhal

Trump Wins, Planet Loses

By Tik Root, Grist

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.

Donald J. Trump will once again be president of the United States.

The Associated Press called the race for Trump early Wednesday morning, ending one of the costliest and most turbulent campaign cycles in the nation’s history.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/trump-wins-planet-loses/

Grist

Great Lakes Moment: Sacred Grounds

Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit PBS.

In the era of climate change, many Detroit homes and churches face challenging stormwater fees.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/great-lakes-moment-sacred-grounds/

John Hartig

Climate change isn’t a top issue in this election. Some Wisconsin voters say it should be.

By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio

This article was republished here with permission from Wisconsin Public Radio.

Outside a September rally with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, Ashland business owner and Democrat Will Pipkin set up signs with a cavalcade of slogans, including “Another cat lady for democracy” and “Without a healthy climate, there’s no freedom.”

Pipkin said he’s backing Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz in the presidential race because they’re the most progressive choice, and he thinks they would continue President Joe Biden’s work on green initiatives and climate change.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/climate-change-isnt-a-top-issue-in-this-election-some-wisconsin-voters-say-it-should-be/

Wisconsin Public Radio

The climate stakes of the Harris-Trump election

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.

Helene and Milton, the two massive hurricanes that just swept into the country — killing hundreds of people, and leaving both devastation and rumblings of political upheaval in seven states — amounted to their own October surprise.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/the-climate-stakes-of-the-harris-trump-election/

Grist

Consequences of less ice on lakes due to climate change

By Lester Graham, Michigan Public

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/consequences-of-less-ice-on-lakes-due-to-climate-change/

Michigan Public

Federal aid to rescue Michigan cherry farmers after devastating crop loss

By Nina Misuraca Ignaczak, Planet Detroit

This article was republished with permission from Planet Detroit. Sign up for Planet Detroit’s weekly newsletter here.

Federal aid is coming to Michigan’s sweet cherry farmers, who lost much of their crops this year due to erratic weather patterns and subsequent pest infestations.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/federal-aid-to-rescue-michigan-cherry-farmers-after-devastating-crop-loss/

Planet Detroit

Joliet, Illinois, Plans to Source Its Future Drinking Water From Lake Michigan. Will Other Cities Follow?

By Nina Elkadi, Inside Climate News

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.

The aquifer from which Joliet, Illinois, sources its drinking water is likely going to run too dry to support the city by 2030—a problem more and more communities are facing as the climate changes and groundwater declines.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/joliet-illinois-lake-michigan-drinking-water/

Inside Climate News

Chicago’s beach season is over … or is it? Lake Michigan temps are breaking records.

By Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, WBEZ

This coverage is made possible through a partnership between WBEZ and Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Sign up for WBEZ newsletters to get local news you can trust.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/chicagos-beach-season-is-over-or-is-it-lake-michigan-temps-are-breaking-records/

WBEZ

Ice forms on the shore of Lake Mendota. Image credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant

By Maddie Gaudette, Freshwater Collaborative summer research student

This summer, 35 undergraduate students from across the country conducted research with Freshwater@UW, the University of Wisconsin’s cross-site, cross-discipline research opportunities program. Freshwater@UW is supported by the Freshwater Collaborative, Wisconsin Sea Grant, Water@UW–Madison, the Water Resources Institute and the University of Wisconsin–Madison Graduate School. In the final weeks of the program, students reflected on what they learned. Here’s Maddie Gaudette, an undergraduate junior in environment, sustainability and geography from the University of Minnesota Duluth, who worked with Andrea Hicks at UW–Madison.

As a Midwesterner, I understand the importance of a frozen lake; it has brought me some of my fondest memories. From ice fishing with my dad to learning how to skate, ice in winter is a cornerstone of Upper Midwest culture. This connection to frozen lakes is a sentiment that is shared on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus. Lake Mendota is an established hot spot for winter recreation and festivals, something I have observed firsthand changing as a result of decreased ice cover.

I have found myself drawn to the intersection between observable climate change and public perception of climate change. I could not be more grateful for the research team I have been a part of this summer. Andrea Hicks and my graduate student adviser, Monica, allowed me to expand on my interests in freshwater changes and climate perception, leading me to explore the connections between lake freeze-over rates and local climate perception in the Madison area. I focused on UW–Madison’s beloved Lake Mendota and used state climatology data in addition to local climate perception survey results to research a connection. 

Through my research, I found that changes in lake freezing and disruptions to lake activity such as ice fishing and the cancellation of local festivals have had profound impacts on the Madison area, which has increased local climate perception. The trends I found in the climatology data show a decrease in the annual ice coverage of Lake Mendota, with a strong likelihood of continued decreased ice coverage. In Madison, where so much of the city’s culture is connected to the area’s lakes, changes like this can have long-lasting effects on the city’s and university’s culture. 

This research has been incredibly engaging; I have felt the reverberations of the changes on Lake Mendota, even as a nonresident. I visited Madison last winter for two different events that both ended up being canceled due to a lack of ice coverage: the Winter Carnival and Lily’s Classic. Both events are university traditions and contribute to the culture of UW–Madison and the Madison area. Understanding how winters along Lake Mendota may be changing gives insight into how to get the community involved in climate issues and, at the very least, aware of climate change impacts in their backyard. Understanding the local changing climate is increasingly important in adapting traditions and recreation for the years to come. While Lake Mendota will long be beloved by the university and the community, my research has indicated that its frozen future may look quite different in the years to come. 

The post Lake Mendota serves up lessons in climate change and public perceptions first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant

Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/lake-mendota-serves-up-lessons-in-climate-change-and-public-perceptions/

Wisconsin Sea Grant

Chicago reveals climate havens don’t exist — they must be created

Experts now say “climate havens” are not places immune from climate change, but areas where adequate preparation is implemented to account for a drastically different climate than anticipated.

Great Lakes cities, like Chicago, are generally considered to be at a lower risk for extreme climate impacts such as wildfires and tropical storms.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/chicago-reveals-climate-havens-dont-exist-they-must-be-created/

Mia Litzenberg

Americans love nature but don’t feel empowered to protect it, new research shows

By Jessica Eise, Indiana University

 is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.

Climate change has been in the news for more than 40 years. It’s typically covered as a scientific or political issue. However, social scientists like me have found that feelings and values are what drive people toward broad, collective change – not charts, graphs or images.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/08/americans-love-nature-but-dont-feel-empowered-to-protect-it-new-research-shows/

The Conversation

A New Paradigm: How climate change is shaping mental landscapes in the Great Lakes

In a weekly Good Grief Network session held on July 25, time and space were created for participants to reflect on their feelings of uncertainty in an unstable environment over Zoom. Trained facilitators kept time for each participant to speak while the other participants bore witness as listeners. The overarching rule was no cross-talk, which means not directly responding or referring to what a person shared.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/08/a-new-paradigm-how-climate-change-is-shaping-mental-landscapes-in-the-great-lakes/

Mia Litzenberg

Chicago teachers demand climate solutions in their next contract

By Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, Grist

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.

This coverage is made possible through a partnership between WBEZ and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/08/chicago-teachers-demand-climate-solutions-in-their-next-contract/

Grist

Heat, pollution, and climate change anxiety are affecting children

By Lester Graham, Michigan Public

Although temperatures vary day-to-day, this summer is shaping up to be a hot one in Michigan. Doctors are warning parents to learn how to protect their kids, and how to talk to them about climate change.

It used to be that parents had to talk to their kids about things like ‘stranger danger,’ or ‘don’t take candy from a stranger,’ and ‘be sure to put on sunscreen.’ With climate change, parents are finding they have a lot more to teach their children.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/07/heat-pollution-and-climate-change-anxiety-are-affecting-children/

Michigan Public

What happens when emergency managers, tree planters and community scientists walk into a room? A discussion about rainfall, naturally.

Flood resilience fellow Jackson Parr stands alongside Paige Witek of Door County Land Trust and Jeff Lutsey of the Door County Big Plant, all of whom hold tree saplings.

The hosts of the “Weather, Climate and Community” event: Paige Witek of Door County Land Trust, Jeff Lutsey and Jackson Parr.

In mid-May, Wisconsin Sea Grant Flood Resilience Fellow Jackson Parr partnered with the Door County Land Trust and the Climate Change Coalition of Door County to lead a community event about local rainfall trends and to recruit volunteers to measure precipitation in their backyards. Parr, a former Keillor Fellow, organized the talk as part of a National Sea Grant Office-funded project on disaster preparedness in northeastern Wisconsin. He said the event brought together folks with diverse environmental interests in conservation, community science and climate change.   

“In the other counties I’ve worked through with this grant, the audiences have tended to be emergency management, first responders, municipal staff — the professionals that are more frontline folks in disaster mitigation, preparedness and response,” said Parr.

“[This] was somewhat of a different audience that still had an interest in these topics — climate change, rainfall, citizen science — but otherwise probably wouldn’t have thought too much about, you know, NOAA Atlas 14 precipitation estimates.”

The “Weather, Climate and Community” event was born of a mutual desire for precipitation data and community engagement. Parr connected with Jeff Lutsey, Director of the Door County Climate Change Coalition, who organizes the Door County Big Plant, an event that gets thousands of trees into the ground each year. Lutsey wanted to know where and how much rain falls across the county to better allocate water to thirsty new trees. Parr wanted more spatial information about extreme rainfall to help municipalities plan for floods. 

The problem? Precipitation data across northeastern Wisconsin is sparse.

So, Parr and Lutsey partnered with a local conservation nonprofit, the Door County Land Trust, to recruit volunteers for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS), a national network of community scientists who measure and record precipitation. More volunteers mean more data points on the map, which means a more complete picture of rainfall across the county.

Jackson Parr delivers a talk at a podium in front of a room of people sitting in red chairs.

Jackson Parr presents findings from a rainfall and flood vulnerability analysis for Door County and Sturgeon Bay at the event. Photo: Jackson Parr

The event was successful in filling those gaps. Parr said 13 people signed up for rain gauges, more than doubling the current number of weather observers in Door County. Those are important numbers for a region experiencing more intense rainfall.

“We’re seeing the number of 2-inch rain events increase, particularly in the last decade,” said Parr.

Being prepared to handle increased rainfall and flooding is at the center of Parr’s grant-funded project. For the last two years, he’s been working with coastal communities in northeast Wisconsin on natural disaster planning, paying special attention to policy and planning documents.

“What are ways in which we can improve the policy language in those plans to better account for coastal hazards?” said Parr. He’s currently drafting recommendations and sample language for municipalities to use in updating comprehensive and hazard mitigation plans.

Parr is continuing similar work as a climate hazards planning educator with the University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension’s Natural Resources Institute, where he’s helping rural communities prepare for extreme weather on a project funded by the Rural Partnerships Institute.

He’s also busy installing 13 new rain gauges across Door County. While the new volunteers may be more interested in well-watered gardens than flood resilience planning, Parr is excited to see folks getting involved, whatever the reason. The data is useful for gardeners, tree planters and emergency planners alike.

“In addition to checking your rain gauge to see how much your tomatoes got, you can log on to an app and take 10 seconds to tell us how much rainfall you see,” said Parr.

 

The post Gauging risk with rain gauges: Flood resilience fellow recruits volunteer weather observers at Door County event first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/gauging-risk-with-rain-gauges-flood-resilience-fellow-recruits-volunteer-weather-observers-at-door-county-event/

Jenna Mertz

Disappointed dogs, sad skiers, frustrated fishermen

Hayward, Wisconsin got its first snow of the season on Halloween. But then Thanksgiving came, and Christmas, with no more white flakes. The new year started equally warm and snowless, and the organizers of the iconic American Birkebeiner ski race began to really worry. The February 24, 2024 race would be the 50th anniversary of the country’s most famous (and largest) cross-country ski event, and it would also be a World Cup competition, drawing top competitors from around the globe.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/disappointed-dogs-sad-skiers-frustrated-fishermen/

Kari Lydersen

EPA head Regan defends $20B green bank: ‘I feel really good about this program’

By Matthew Daly, Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The head of the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday defended a new $20 billion federal “green bank” program, saying it will finance a variety of projects to create low-carbon solutions to combat climate change, including in disadvantaged communities that are most affected by pollution.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/epa-head-regan-defends-20b-green-bank-i-feel-really-good-about-this-program/

The Associated Press

Are Great Lakes cities ready for climate migrants?

This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.

By Kayla Nelsen, Great Lakes Echo

A California woman on “The Daily Show” recently swapped her sandals for snowshoes after moving to Duluth to escape her state’s wildfires.

The Comedy Central show featured Duluth as a climate haven, an ideal place to live to avoid wildfires, droughts, hurricanes and extreme flooding.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/03/are-great-lakes-cities-ready-for-climate-migrants/

Great Lakes Echo

Road salt use dips 37% in Michigan warm winter, saving millions, easing pollution

By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/03/road-salt-use-dips-37-in-michigan-warm-winter-saving-millions-easing-pollution/

Bridge Michigan

The Northwoods is now a month into unusually early maple tapping season

By Katie Thoresen, WXPR

This story was originally published by WXPR. WXPR is a community-licensed public radio station serving north central Wisconsin and adjacent areas of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Listen to their stories here.

Bright blue tubes web between the trees that run to the little red pump house that sits in the woods on the edge of 10 acres full of maple trees at Whataview Farm in Phelps.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

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Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/03/the-northwoods-is-now-a-month-into-unusually-early-maple-tapping-season/

WXPR

Warm winters are a wet blanket for small ski slopes in northern Michigan

By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio

This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.

  • Winter recreation is a big part of Michigan’s economy, but warm conditions have been tough for some businesses.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/02/warm-winters-are-a-wet-blanket-for-small-ski-slopes-in-northern-michigan/

Interlochen Public Radio

As Michigan winters vanish, researchers study snow for clues about what’s next

By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/02/as-michigan-winters-vanish-researchers-study-snow-for-clues-about-whats-next/

Bridge Michigan

Globe breaks heat record for 8th straight month. Golfers get to play in Minnesota’s ‘lost winter’

By Seth Borenstein and Steve Karnowski, Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — For the eighth straight month in January, Earth was record hot, according to the European climate agency. That was obvious in the northern United States, where about 1,000 people were golfing last month in a snow-starved Minneapolis during what the state is calling “the Lost Winter of 2023-24.”

For the first time, the global temperature pushed past the internationally agreed upon warming threshold for an entire 12-month period, with February 2023 to January 2024 running 2.74 degrees Fahrenheit (1.52 degrees Celsius) hotter than pre-industrial levels, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service of the European Space Agency.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/02/ap-globe-breaks-heat-record-for-8th-straight-month-golfers-get-to-play-in-minnesotas-lost-winter/

The Associated Press

Michigan’s lost winter cancels sturgeon season, ski, dog sled races

By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/02/michigans-lost-winter-cancels-sturgeon-season-ski-dog-sled-races/

Bridge Michigan

Smart buoys help brace Great Lakes for environmental challenges

This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.

By Daniel Schoenherr, Great Lakes Echo

Lake Erie is the first of the Great Lakes getting connected to the internet with a series of offshore “smart” buoys.

And it’s not just for sending texts on the water.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/01/smart-buoys-help-brace-great-lakes-for-environmental-challenges/

Great Lakes Echo

‘It only makes sense’: Houses of worship adding solar arrays

By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio

This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.

On a Sunday morning in Charlevoix, people gather in the small, one-room building of the Greensky Hill Indian United Methodist Church.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/01/it-only-makes-sense-houses-of-worship-adding-solar-arrays/

Interlochen Public Radio

Lake Erie is 13% frozen, expect less freezing in the future

By Josh Boose, Ideastream Public Media

This story was originally published by Ideastream.

Lake Erie is behind its typical freezing schedule.

The schedule depends on different weather patterns, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Director of Communications Jennifer Day.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/01/lake-erie-is-13-frozen-expect-less-freezing-in-the-future/

Ideastream Public Media

A program for community leaders in northern Wisconsin who are looking for ways to address climate change is available through Wisconsin Sea Grant and the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve. 

The Lake Superior Climate Champions Program began provides a yearlong opportunity for community teams to work on a goal of their choosing that addresses climate change, with a minimum of $2,500 in funding, guidance from Sea Grant and Reserve staff members and the chance to connect with other communities working on climate challenges. The program completed its first successful cohort last year and is seeking applicants for a new round of support in 2024.

Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Natalie Chin discusses climate change impacts with Climate Champions teams in 2023. Image credit: Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve

Participating teams of two to four people must be from one of the four coastal counties (Douglas, Bayfield, Ashland or Iron) and may include representatives from multiple jurisdictions. The teams can include community members in decision-making roles, such as tribal or county government staff, elected officials, members of local boards and committees or regional intergovernmental committees.

“All across Lake Superior’s coastal communities, we feel the impacts of climate change firsthand,” said Karina Heim, coastal training program coordinator with the Lake Superior Reserve. “Finding time and the capacity to address climate issues can be a challenge for local leaders. Our Climate Champions Program offers dedicated, yearlong support for climate work.”

Teams who want to participate need to apply online by March 15 at: https://go.wisc.edu/0385yk. Teams will be selected by April and the program will begin in May.

The previous year’s projects included creating the outline of a coastal adaptation plan for Washburn and Ashland, Wisconsin, that focused on flood resilience, climate adaptation and a project priorities list; also, emergency managers from Ashland, Bayfield, Douglas and Iron counties developed an online form to record road maintenance activities for Great Lakes coastal counties in Wisconsin.

Applicants are encouraged to seek support for a new climate resilience effort that is relevant to their community. This could include developing a new resource or tool, initiating an assessment, bringing people together in dialog or developing a specific climate plan.

Other possible project examples include: finding and using an assessment or planning tool to prepare for climate challenges (flooding, public health, etc.), planning a workshop or a facilitated process that allows for climate change learning and dialog and incorporating climate change considerations into an existing project or process, such as land-use planning or stormwater management.

For more information, visit: https://go.wisc.edu/am468e.

The post Applications open for community climate support program first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Marie Zhuikov

Elk Rapids wants to help its shoreline through new state Climate Corps program

By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio

This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.

Elk Rapids is surrounded by water.

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Interlochen Public Radio

Michigan lawmakers have more energy priorities in 2024

By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

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Bridge Michigan

Why poor air quality isn’t just a summer problem in Detroit

This article was republished here with permission from Planet Detroit.

By Brian Allnutt, Planet Detroit

Darren Riley noticed poor air quality across much of Michigan this week when off-the-shelf air monitors from companies like IQAir and PurpleAir showed readings as high as 154 for PM 2.5 (fine particulate matter) in Detroit on Sunday – putting the monitors in the red or ‘unhealthy’ range on the Air Quality Index (AQI).

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Planet Detroit

Carbon pollution is down in the US, but not fast enough to meet Biden’s 2030 goal, new report says

WASHINGTON (AP) — Climate-altering pollution from greenhouse gases declined by nearly 2% in the United States in 2023, even as the economy expanded at a faster clip, a new report finds.

The decline, while “a step in the right direction,” is far below the rate needed to meet President Joe Biden’s pledge to cut U.S.

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The Associated Press

Traverse City-based policy center appeals Michigan’s Line 5 permit

By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio

This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.

A Great Lakes water law and policy center in Traverse City is appealing a state permit for the Line 5 tunnel project.

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Interlochen Public Radio

Warmer winters mean less ice on Lake Michigan – hurting lake trout and whitefish

By Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, WBEZ

This coverage is made possible through a partnership between WBEZ and Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Sign up for WBEZ newsletters to get local news you can trust.

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WBEZ

Science Says What? Global worming and the Great Lakes (yes, you read that right)

Science Says What? is a monthly column written by Great Lakes now contributor Sharon Oosthoek exploring what science can tell us about what’s happening beneath and above the waves of our beloved Great Lakes and their watershed.

Invasion of the earthworms! It sounds like a bad Hollywood movie, but science can be stranger than fiction.

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Sharon Oosthoek

Person wearing a plaid shirt and smiling with water in the background.

Mike Smale is assessing 38 wetlands in the Wisconsin part of the Lake Superior watershed to see what vulnerable plant and animal species are present. Submitted photo.

If Mike Smale were king of the world for a day, he might just decree that all city buses in Madison, Wisconsin, be outfitted with front racks to hold kayaks, in addition to bikes, as they are now. That way, a person could stow their kayak, climb onto the bus, ride to a nearby body of water, remove the kayak and have a paddle. This would be the convergence of two things Smale is passionate about – embracing mass transit to reduce emissions and enjoying water.  

“I’m kind of a nerd in that way (supporting eco-friendly trains and buses) on top of being a water nerd,” Smale said.

While filling the role of the J. Philip Keillor Great Lakes – Wisconsin Sea Grant Fellow focused on climate change and coastal wetlands, Smale may not really don the royal mantle and order what’s affixed to buses, but he can embrace his love of water. He took on the 18-month fellowship based at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in Madison in mid-June and has a dual-focused appointment.

First, he is tackling what he calls “oddball” tasks, such as collaborating with people in the DNR’s Drinking Water and Groundwater Program, attending conferences and assisting with Sea Grant’s review process to determine a biennial research package. His second focus is assessing how climate change is affecting 38 wetlands in the Wisconsin portion of the Lake Superior watershed.

Smale said, “We are coming up with methods for a framework to evaluate the climate sensitivity of these wetlands. That involves finding out what data is available, working with experts to establish those methods, and how that framework could be representative of true climate sensitivity. And then some mapping (of the wetlands).” The end point will be a scoring table for the sites.

He is looking through the lens of four shifts expected to affect wetlands under a changing climate as identified by the 2021 Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Report:

  • Warmer temperatures
  • Increased precipitation
  • Lake level fluctuations
  • Increased lake wind and wave action

Those shifts are being incorporated into a whole-picture analysis of a wetland. Smale elaborated, “Based on communities that are present (in a wetland), we can estimate which wetlands are more or less likely to shift – which wetlands are going to change the most. We’re starting with vegetation, and we are going to move into looking at the climate sensitivity of fish habitat and birds, and also culturally important beings.”

With that data in hand, Smale and his team will next determine how, “Those components or communities will translate, or not translate, into adaptive capacity. We’re asking, ‘How well could these wetlands, even though they’re sensitive, how well could they cope with the change in climate’?”

Smale’s work can also inform assessments throughout the Great Lakes Basin because one source of data is the Coastal Wetland Monitoring Data Program, which includes insights about the region’s fish, frog, bird, macroinvertebrate and vegetation populations, along with water quality. The program is based at Central Michigan University and is supported by contributions from binational governmental agencies, universities and a private business.

Person wearing waders and standing in brown and green vegetation. Submitted photo.

Smale said through the fellowship he has, “Learned that I like these actionable positions where you’re doing something that is having a visible effect on people’s lives. ” Submitted photo.

“We’re building the framework (in Wisconsin) to, at a very minimum, work with that dataset so it could be extrapolated to all the Great Lakes. We’re finding ways where we could include state data or from other sources to fill out gaps or make it a little bit more robust, more applicable, but other states could also use this data, tweak it to their own framework using their own data sources,” said Smale.

Speaking of tweaks, Smale said he’s so far encountered one in his own fellowship. “When I first started this position, it really seemed like I jumped into Sophie’s (his predecessor in the fellowship, Sophie LaFond Hudson) work. I thought ‘Oh, wow, this is halfway done. What am I going to be doing?’”

As he dug deeper, though, Smale realized he should adjust LaFond Hudson’s work in the aquatic invasive species (AIS) category – to view AIS as an indicator of stress in a wetland not as a community on par with, say, the state of fish and frogs. For example, if nonnative cattails are present, the wetland is near a tipping point toward a monoculture that should be reflected in an individual wetland’s resiliency score.

Adjusting that part of the framework, “Felt like I was regressing back in the project,” he said. “Here, I thought I was halfway done and actually I’m back working on the basics of the project. But after talking it through with Cherie Hagen, who’s my supervisor at the DNR, she’s like, ‘Oh no, this is exactly what you should be doing. You’re building it up more. You’re incorporating exactly the feedback you’re supposed to.’”

In light of this, Smale said, “I guess I was surprised at how much more influence I would have on this project and also kind of the depth that we are working on.”

In addition to the DNR’s Hagen, the Lake Superior basin supervisor in the Office of Great Waters, Smale is also mentored by Madeline Magee, monitoring and beach coordinator in that same DNR office; Sea Grant’s Associate Director Jennifer Hauxwell; and Titus Seilheimer, Sea Grant’s fisheries outreach specialist.  

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Moira Harrington

As Great Lakes warm, collaboration and Indigenous self-determination are keys to adapting

By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio

This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.

The five Great Lakes are among the fastest-warming bodies of water on Earth.

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Canada says it can fight climate change and be major oil nation. Massive fires may force a reckoning

By Suman Naishadham and Victor Caivano, Associated Press

FORT MCMURRAY, Canada (AP) — During a May wildfire that scorched a vast swath of spruce and pine forest in northwestern Canada, Julia Cardinal lost a riverside cabin that was many things to her: retirement project, gift from from her husband, and somewhere to live by nature, as her family had done for generations.

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The Associated Press

New University of Michigan led initiative expands climate research across borders

When it comes to fostering resilience in the face of climate change in the waters that border the U.S. and Canada, hydrologist Drew Gronewold wants the region to be a “role model for the world.”

Gronewald is leading a new U.S. – Canada and sovereign nations effort to establish a research center designed to strengthen climate change resilience in communities that span international boundaries and jurisdictions.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

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Gary Wilson

In warming Great Lakes, climate triage means some cold waters won’t be saved

By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

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Bridge Michigan