Mapping tools help Ohio cities chart course for environmental justice

By Kathiann M. KowalskiEnergy News Network

This story was first published on the Energy News Network and was republished here with permission.

Ohio cities are using new data mapping tools to identify and respond to disparities in energy burdens, climate risks, and pollution impacts.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/mapping-tools-ohio-environmental-justice/

Energy News Network

Rising water makes Lake Michigan wetlands vulnerable to invaders

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

By Caroline Miller, Great Lakes Echo

High water and ice scouring has shifted native wetlands inland and opened a door to invasive species along Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan coast.

A new study documents the first sighting of the invasive species, European frogbit, in Wisconsin and says that it could threaten native plants, fish and invertebrates.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/rising-water-lake-michigan-wetlands-invaders/

Great Lakes Echo

IDEM Testing Confirms “Forever Chemicals” in Some Public Water Systems

By Enrique Saenz, Indiana Environmental Reporter

Final results of the first phase of statewide community water system testing confirmed the presence of PFAS chemicals in the treated drinking water of nearly a dozen Indiana communities.

The presence of PFAS chemicals in drinking water could be exposing thousands of Hoosiers to a series of adverse health conditions ranging from increased risk of kidney and testicular cancers to high cholesterol levels.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/testing-confirms-forever-chemicals-water-systems/

Indiana Environmental Reporter

Dam Accounting: Taking Stock of Methane Emissions From Reservoirs

By Tara Lohan, The Revelator

This story originally appeared in The Revelator and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

This month regulators greenlighted a transmission line that would bring power generated from Canadian hydroelectric dams to New York City.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/stock-methane-emissions-reservoirs/

The Revelator

Canada ranks dead last among G7 on climate progress: Earth Index

By Shawn McCarthy, Corporate Knights

This story originally appeared in Corporate Knights and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

Canada must make up for lost ground if it’s going to meet its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to 45% from 2005 levels by 2030.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/canada-ranks-last-climate-progress/

Corporate Knights

Indiana Finance Authority COO Testifies at House Drinking Water Hearing

By Enrique Saenz, Indiana Environmental Reporter

Federal funding mechanisms for improving Indiana’s water infrastructure work but need more flexibility to help eliminate lead service lines, PFAS and other issues, according to testimony from one of the state’s top finance officials.

Jim McGoff, Indiana Finance Authority chief operating officer and director of environmental programs, testified March 29 before the U.S.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/indiana-finance-authority-house-drinking-water-hearing/

Indiana Environmental Reporter

Storms strain Ohio’s electric grid, and climate change could make it worse

By Kathiann M. Kowalski, Energy News Network

This story was first published on the Energy News Network and was republished here with permission.

Major weather events accounted for more than a third of the time Ohio customers of regulated electric utilities went without power last year, according to an Energy News Network review of data filed with state regulators.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/storms-ohio-electric-grid-climate-change/

Energy News Network

What’s missing from Doug Ford’s proposed expansion of the Ontario Greenbelt

By Emma McIntosh, The Narwhal

This story first ran on The Narwhal, a non-profit news organization that publishes in-depth stories about Canada’s natural world.

When the Doug Ford government first announced plans to expand Ontario’s Greenbelt, it called the move a “once in a generation opportunity.”

The initial concept, presented by Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark in February 2021, involved ambitious plans to include waterways under the Greenbelt’s protection and stretch its boundaries to encompass a large swath of land west of Toronto.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/doug-fords-expansion-ontario-greenbelt/

The Narwhal

Northern Indiana residents doubt outcome of coal ash cleanup

By Beth Edwards, Indiana Environmental Reporter

Some northern Indiana residents remain skeptical that communities in the area will be free of contamination from toxic coal ash, despite a renewed commitment by government agencies and one of the state’s biggest energy companies to clean up polluted sites and transition to renewable energy sources.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/indiana-residents-coal-ash-cleanup/

Indiana Environmental Reporter

Researchers find wetland plant can filter PFAS chemicals

By Enrique Saenz, Indiana Environmental Reporter

Researchers have found that a common wetland plant native to Australia can remove toxic “forever chemicals” from the surrounding environment.

In a 190-day greenhouse experiment, a team of Chinese and Australian researchers found that Juncus sarophorus, a wetland plant also known as the broom rush, could tolerate and accumulate PFOS, PFOA and PFHxS, three of the most commonly studied PFAS chemicals.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/researchers-wetland-plant-pfas-chemicals/

Indiana Environmental Reporter

‘We’ve got to get gaming out of our blood’: Pandemic shock pushes Wisconsin tribes to diversify economy

This article, first posted here, was republished with permission from Wisconsin Watch.

By Mario Koran, Wisconsin Watch

This story is part of a collaborative series, “At the Crossroads,” from the Institute for Nonprofit News, Indian Country Today, Wisconsin Watch and eight other news partners, examining the state of the economy in Indian Country.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/pandemic-shock-pushes-wisconsin-tribes-to-diversify-economy/

Wisconsin Watch

Easier Ride for Fossils, But $9.1B in Climate Funding as Ottawa Releases 2030 Plan

By Mitchell Beer, The Energy Mix 

This story originally appeared in The Energy Mix and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

The fossil and transportation sectors get a relatively free ride and electricity producers do the most to decarbonize in the much-anticipated 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan released March 29 by Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/climate-funding-ottawa-2030-plan/

The Energy Mix

Minnesota bill aims to close a gap on funding for ‘pre-weatherization’ work

By Frank Jossi, Energy News Network

This story was first published on the Energy News Network and was republished here with permission.

A lack of state funding to help Minnesota homeowners clean up mold, asbestos and other hazards is limiting the reach of federal weatherization programs in the state, preventing some of those most in need from accessing benefits.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/minnesota-bill-funding-pre-weatherization-work/

Energy News Network

The pandemic that closed the U.S./Canadian border to people may have opened it to the invasive sea lamprey

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

By Danielle James, Great Lakes Echo

Great Lakes invasive species cling to shipments and navigate canals to migrate, but one aquatic invader – sea lamprey – benefitted from border closures instead.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/border-opened-invasive-sea-lamprey/

Great Lakes Echo

Chicago educator empowers students to make climate connections in their own communities

By Audrey Henderson, Energy News Network

This story was first published on the Energy News Network and was republished here with permission.

For many city kids, flowers have cut stems and vegetables are packed in styrofoam and plastic on shelves in the grocery store.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/chicago-educator-empowers-students-climate-connections-communities/

Energy News Network

5 Reasons to Love (and Protect) Freshwater Mussels

By Tara Lohan, The Revelator

This story originally appeared in The Revelator and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

In September the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed removing 23 species from the federal list of endangered species — not because they’d rebounded, sadly, but because they are believed to be extinct.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/reasons-to-love-freshwater-mussels/

The Revelator

Black Neighborhoods Will Bear Future Flood Burden

By Kimberly M. S. Cartier, Eos

This story originally appeared in Eos and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

Residents of New Orleans are no strangers to floods and the losses that follow.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/black-neighborhoods-future-flood-burden/

Eos

New Ontario watercraft regulations fight invasive species

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

By Arya Dara, Great Lakes Echo

New legislation in Ontario can result in a fine if boats are not cleaned properly when they are moved from one body of water and into another.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/ontario-watercraft-regulations-invasive-species/

Great Lakes Echo

Indiana University study links lead exposure to juvenile delinquency

By Timberly Ferree, Indiana Environmental Reporter

In the first direct analysis of its kind, a study by Indiana University researchers has found a link between lead in drinking water, specifically from private wells, and juvenile delinquency.

“There’s not been a direct analysis on lead exposure and children’s outcomes later in life before.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/study-lead-exposure-juvenile-delinquency/

Indiana Environmental Reporter

Breaking up: Ice loss is changing one Anishinaabe fisherman’s relationship with Lake Superior

By Jolene Banning, The Narwhal

This story first ran on The Narwhal, a non-profit news organization that publishes in-depth stories about Canada’s natural world.

Sometime in the early 1990s, the ice was so unusually thick and smooth on Gitchigumi that Anishinaabe fisherman Phillip Solomon drove his car, a 1984 Monte Carlo, across the lake from Fort William First Nation to Pie Island with a friend.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/02/ice-loss-anishinaabe-fishermen-lake-superior/

The Narwhal

$3.7M grant to aid Lafarge port upgrades

By Julie Riddle, The Alpena News

This article is part of a collaboration between The Alpena News and Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television to bring audiences stories about the Great Lakes, especially Lake Huron and its watershed.

ALPENA – An Alpena company will snag a piece of more than $241 million in grants awarded to upgrade U.S.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/02/grant-aid-lafarge-port-upgrades/

The Alpena News

Great Lakes platform helps connect green investors with regional projects

By Kari Lydersen

This story was first published on the Energy News Network and was republished here with permission.

A two-year-old economic development partnership is helping to draw attention — and investment dollars — to sustainability projects in the Great Lakes region.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/02/great-lakes-platform-green-projects/

Energy News Network

Minnesota cities hope climate emergency resolutions add urgency to responses

By Frank Jossi

This story was first published on the Energy News Network and was republished here with permission

St. Paul last week joined a growing list of Minnesota cities passing climate resolutions aimed at adding urgency to state and local climate actions.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/02/minnesota-cities-climate-resolutions/

Energy News Network

Cargo, With a Side of Hornets, Flies and Crabs

By Tim Lydon, The Revelator

This story originally appeared in The Revelator and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

In July 2021 federal agents in New Orleans abruptly ordered the 600-foot cargo ship Pan Jasmine to leave U.S.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/cargo-invasive-species/

The Revelator

New study says elevated levels of PFAS found in anti-fogging sprays and cloths

By Timberly Ferree, Indiana Environmental Reporter

A new Duke University-led study has found that the anti-fogging sprays and cloths used to prevent condensation on eyeglasses contain toxic PFAS chemicals.

Researchers tested five top-rated anti-fogging cloths and four top-rated anti-fogging sprays sold on Amazon and found all the products to contain fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) and fluorotelomer ethoxylates (FTEOs).

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/elevated-levels-pfas-sprays-cloths/

Indiana Environmental Reporter

Fresh, local and forgotten: On Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, families fight to save their fisheries

By Lindsay Campbell with photography by Johnny C. Lam, The Narwhal

This story first ran on The Narwhal, a non-profit news organization that publishes in-depth stories about Canada’s natural world. 

Those who choose a life in commercial fishing on the Great Lakes are granted a front row seat to the natural world.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/lake-ontario-lake-erie-families-fisheries/

The Narwhal

Fresh, local and forgotten: On Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, families fight to save their fisheries

By Lindsay Campbell with photography by Johnny C. Lam, The Narwhal

This story first ran on The Narwhal, a non-profit news organization that publishes in-depth stories about Canada’s natural world. 

Those who choose a life in commercial fishing on the Great Lakes are granted a front row seat to the natural world.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/lake-ontario-lake-erie-families-fisheries/

The Narwhal

Combined Effort: Sierra Club to award Great Lakes News Collaborative

Inadequate regulations, infrastructure failures and developments, water quality and quantity, and climate migration were just some of the many pressing Great Lakes issues covered collectively by the Great Lakes News Collaborative over the past year.

With timely stories set to a backdrop of visually compelling photos and video, the goal for the Great Lakes News Collaborative was to give voice to what residents all over the region are already seeing at their doorsteps.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/combined-effort-sierra-club-to-award-great-lakes-news-collaborative/

Natasha Blakely

Adapting to Climate Change Will Only Get More Expensive

By Michael Allen, Hakai Magazine 

This story originally appeared in Hakai Magazine and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

 

As the climate warms, the price of adapting homes and infrastructure to cope with increasing temperatures, heavier rainfalls, stronger storms, and rising seas will be staggering.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/01/adapting-climate-change-expensive/

Hakai Magazine

Year in Review 2021: Change is good, really, and proof is in the Great Lakes pudding

Not to overshare and get too personal, but I don’t deal well with change. 

Unfortunately, as evidenced by the past two years, unexpected change is unavoidable. 

What a lot of people – including me for a while – don’t seem to realize about change is that it isn’t temporary.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/12/year-in-review-2021-change/

Natasha Blakely

Great Lakes region WWII armory preserves Indigenous village

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

By Hannah Brock, Great Lakes Echo

Researchers are studying a long-vanished village near southern Lake Michigan that a World War II arsenal helped preserve.

A recent study by archaeologists sought to learn about those who lived at what is now the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in Illinois.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/12/wwii-armory-preserves-indigenous/

Great Lakes Echo

Historic coal ash raises concerns at iconic Illinois coal plant site

By Kari Lydersen

This story was republished with permission from Energy News Network.

Coal ash will remain in the ground at the site of a closing coal plant on the shores of Lake Michigan in Waukegan, Illinois.

Owner NRG explained its plans on Dec.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/12/historic-coal-ash-concerns/

Energy News Network

Proposed eastern sandhill cranes hunt in breeding states stirs controversy

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

By Nicholas Simon, Great Lakes Echo

Efforts by politicians to create a hunting season for eastern sandhill cranes in both Wisconsin and Michigan are stirring debates among hunters, farmers and birders.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/12/eastern-sandhill-cranes-hunt/

Great Lakes Echo

You Can’t Beat Climate Change Without Tackling Disinformation

By Amy Westervelt, The Nation

This story originally appeared in The Nation and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

 

In the past few months, climate disinformation has been making its way into the news more than usual.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/12/climate-change-disinformation/

The Nation

Bringing the fight against dams to COP26

By Sarah Sax, High Country News

This story originally appeared in High Country News and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

 

For two weeks, leaders and representatives from around the world have gathered in person and virtually in Glasgow, Scotland, for the United Nations’ 26th annual climate change summit, called the Conference of the Parties, or COP26.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/bringing-fight-dams-cop26/

High Country News

How the Ski Industry Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Climate Activism

By Jenessa Duncombe, Eos

This story originally appeared in Eos and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

 

An interview with the president of the International Ski Federation, Gian Franco Kasper, made its way around the Internet faster than locals flocking to the first chair on a powder day.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/ski-industry-climate-activism/

Eos

Great Lakes groups hope EPA regional administrator revitalizes infrastructure, morale

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

By Gabrielle Ahlborn, Great Lakes Echo

Environmental groups say they hope that a new Environmental Protection Agency administrator for the Great Lakes region works to restore infrastructure while revitalizing an agency they say is depleted and demoralized.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/epa-regional-administrator-infrastructure/

Great Lakes Echo

Farmers’ Almanac forecasts frosty Great Lakes flip-flop

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

By Gabrielle Ahlborn, Great Lakes Echo

After an unusually warm and stormy summer, the Great Lakes region has in store a “frosty flip-flop” winter, according to the 2021-22 Farmers’ Almanac forecast.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/11/farmers-almanac-forecasts-frosty/

Great Lakes Echo

Will taxpayers bear the cost of cleaning up America’s abandoned oil wells?

By Leanna First-Arai, The Guardian

This story originally appeared in The Guardian and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

 

Oil and gas companies have a century-old bad habit of drilling wells and ditching them.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/taxpayers-cost-cleaning-americas-abandoned-oil-wells/

The Guardian

Indigenous leaders face barriers to UN climate conference

By Mary Annette Pember, Indian Country Today

This story originally appeared in Indian Country Today and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

 

Indigenous leaders are largely being excluded from participation in the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference as the world grapples with escalating problems from floods, fires, heat, drought and other disasters.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/indigenous-leaders-face-barriers-un-climate-conference/

Indian Country Today

‘Something has to be done’: Living along Madison’s Starkweather Creek, one of Wisconsin’s most polluted waterways.

This article, first posted here, was republished with permission from Wisconsin Watch.

By Isaac Wasserman, Wisconsin Watch

Carnetta Galvin and Melody Homesly stood on Galvin’s porch holding glasses of wine on an August evening. It was Galvin’s birthday, and the best friends’ laughter reverberated from their corner of the brick apartment and into the streets of the Darbo-Worthington neighborhood in Madison, Wisconsin.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/madisons-starkweather-creek-wisconsin-polluted-waterway/

Wisconsin Watch

Missed Acid Delivery at Root of Midwest Plant Iron Discharge: US Steel Correspondence

By Enrique Saenz, Indiana Environmental Reporter

In a document sent to the state, U.S. Steel Corp. said a chain of events kicked off by a missed acid delivery to its Midwest Plant in Portage led to a large discharge of iron into a nearby waterway in late September.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/missed-acid-delivery-midwest-plant-iron-discharge/

Indiana Environmental Reporter

Nearly Two Dozen Communities Awarded State Water Infrastructure Fund Grants

By Enrique Saenz, Indiana Environmental Reporter

Hundreds of Indiana municipalities applied for millions of dollars of state and federal money to fund much-needed water infrastructure projects, but only a few made the first cut.

The Indiana Finance Authority selected 22 municipalities out of more than 500 that applied to receive $63 million in grants from the first round of State Water Infrastructure Fund program funding.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/10/communities-awarded-state-water-infrastructure-fund-grants/

Indiana Environmental Reporter

FishPass stays off November ballot, will be decided in appeals court

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

By Max Copeland, Great Lakes Echo

The fate of Traverse City, Michigan’s FishPass project will be decided in court. That’s after city commissioners decided not to put the question before voters in November.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/09/fishpass-november-ballot-appeals-court/

Great Lakes Echo

SCUBAnauts enjoy first Great Lakes dive in Alpena

By Darby Hinkley, The Alpena News

This article is part of a collaboration between The Alpena News and Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television to bring audiences stories about the Great Lakes, especially Lake Huron and its watershed.

ALPENA — These teens have a lot of experience diving, but, until this month, none of them had any experience diving in any of The Great Lakes.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/scubanauts-great-lakes-dive-alpena/

The Alpena News

Scientists look for clues to Lake Superior algae blooms

By Dan Kraker, Minnesota Public Radio

A couple weekends ago, Cody Sheik was at a friend’s wedding on Duluth’s Park Point, sipping champagne down on the Lake Superior beach, when he spotted something unusual in the normally crystal clear water.

“It was definitely a bloom,” he recalled.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/scientists-clues-lake-superior-algae-blooms/

Dan Kraker

Canada commits $340 million to Indigenous protected areas, guardians programs

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal

This story originally appeared in The Narwhal and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

The Canadian government is investing $340 million to support Indigenous guardians and Indigenous Protected Areas as part of its commitment to conserving 30 per cent of the country’s lands and waters by 2030.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/canada-340-million-indigenous-protected-areas-guardians-programs/

The Narwhal

Depleted wetlands impact freshwater turtles in Toronto

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

By Chioma Lewis, Great Lakes Echo

Freshwater turtles have become less abundant in coastal areas of Greater Toronto that have significantly decreased wetlands.

That’s according to researchers in Toronto who conducted a study to assess the turtle communities in coastal wetlands of Lake Ontario.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/depleted-wetlands-freshwater-turtles-toronto/

Great Lakes Echo

There are more than 5,000 chemicals in the man-made group known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). At times during an informal workshop on the topic late last week, it felt as if there were also thousands of questions surrounding PFAS.

The virtual gathering of more than 50 state agency personnel and academics from University of Wisconsin System schools shined a light on knowledge gaps, as well as energized opportunities for collaboration to move forward Wisconsin’s PFAS research agenda.

Amy Schultz, environment researcher for the University of Wisconsin-Madison-based Survey of the Health of Wisconsin, summed it up for most participants when she said points of collaboration “span all the worlds. And, collaboration is necessary.”

All the worlds she referred to were the four areas around which the workshop had been organized:

  • Environmental contamination by PFAS. PFAS has been found in surface and groundwater, rain, air, soil, fish and wildlife.
  • How PFAS moves and how it persists in the environment. There are 80 known sites of contamination in the state, which is almost certainly not a finite number.
  • How PFAS should be dealt with once it’s discovered. There was uniform agreement among workshop attendees that there needs to be a way to sequester PFAS, but how? PFAS can also be removed from water and disposed of under proper conditions, but this can be expensive.
  • The effects of PFAS on people. Studies have shown PFAS can increase cholesterol levels, decrease the efficacy of vaccines and—for pregnant women—cross the placenta and also be transmitted through breast milk. PFAS has been linked to cancer, osteoarthritis, ulcerative colitis and thyroid disease.

A recent PFAS workshop identified many knowledge gaps and potential collaborations between state agencies and scientists. Workshop organizers committed to the release of more information to set a research agenda. Photo: Bonnie Willison, Wisconsin Sea Grant.

The workshop hosts—Wisconsin Sea Grant, the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute and the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene—laid out goals for the workshop: identifying what is known about PFAS; targeting knowledge gaps; fostering working relationships between staff at the departments of Health Services, Natural Resources, and Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and the research community to accomplish further work; and charting next steps.

At the conclusion of the two 4-hour sessions that saw speakers, technical panel discussions and breakout sessions, that tick list seemed complete. The group plans to continue informal conversations to formulate research needs and share research findings and resources that will lead to actions that protect Wisconsin’s environmental resources and public health from PFAS as they are present in numerous products of everyday life.

The post PFAS in Wisconsin: Setting a research agenda first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant

Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/pfas-in-wisconsin-setting-a-research-agenda/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pfas-in-wisconsin-setting-a-research-agenda

Moira Harrington

Cow manure predicted to cause most sickness from contaminated wells in Wisconsin’s Kewaunee County

This article, first posted here, was republished with permission from Wisconsin Watch.

By Coburn Dukehart, Wisconsin Watch

The No. 1 factor for acute gastrointestinal illness in Kewaunee County’s private drinking water wells is cow manure, according to a federal study released today.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2021/08/cow-manure-sickness-contaminated-wells-wisconsin/

Wisconsin Watch