Great Lakes Now episodes often explore the human element of the Great Lakes along with the critters residing in the waters.
In “Homes, Invaders,” learn about how sea lampreys are an invasive and dangerous species and the efforts that are being done to control the sea lamprey population in the Great Lakes.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/07/homes-invaders-episode-quiz/
By Christopher Bonasia, 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 sudden rise in fertilizer prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could have implications for global emissions by reducing how much of it farmers use in their fields.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/07/soaring-fertilizer-prices-emissions-farmers/
A lakeside view and twittering morning avian chorus make for a great combination, and all along the Great Lakes there are plenty of great locations to experience both those things.
Installing a bird feeder is an easy way to enjoy birds right outside your door, but county parks and birding walks are a great way to learn about birds too, Kimberly Kaufman said in an interview with Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/trails-for-best-view-of-birds/
By Ed White, Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out charges against former Gov. Rick Snyder and others in the Flint water scandal, saying a judge sitting as a one-person grand jury had no power to issue indictments under rarely used state laws.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ap-court-kills-flint-water-charges-ex-governor/
New research into Great Lakes water levels looks farther into the future to predict how much climate change will increase lake levels in four of the five Great Lakes.
The predictions for the levels between now and 2050 show average increases from 2010-2019 levels of Lake Superior rising 19 centimeters (7.5 inches), Lake Erie 28 centimeters (11 inches) and lakes Michigan and Huron by 44 centimeters (17.3 inches).
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/great-lakes-water-levels-increase-next-few-decades/
A new study completed by international researchers says current efforts to reduce harmful algae blooms by limiting phosphorous in Lake Erie could result in more toxic algae.
“I think it has implications for how we think about cleaning up Lake Erie,” said Greg Dick, director of the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research at Michigan State University, and one of the study’s authors.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/phosphorous-reduction-toxic-algae/
Climate change-fueled weather such as extreme storms will provide a direct threat to contaminated waste storage sites, nuclear power plants and industrial facilities at multiple sites on the shores of Lake Michigan, according to a new report.
The 63-mile corridor from Gary, Indiana, through Illinois to the Wisconsin border is particularly at risk.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/extreme-weather-hazardous-waste-sites/
By John Flesher, Associated Press
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — You’re in the mood for fish and your server suggests a dish of invasive carp. Ugh, you might say. But how about broiled copi, fresh from the Mississippi River?
Here’s the catch: They’re the same thing.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ap-unpopular-fish-getting-makeover/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
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.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/endangered-piping-plovers-need-human-help/
I Speak for the Fish is a new monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor Kathy Johnson, coming out the third Monday of each month. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/not-all-lampreys-are-killers/
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of widespread man-made chemicals that don’t break down in the environment or the human body and have been flagged as a major contaminant in sources of water across the country.
Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/pfas-news-roundup-epa-standards-firefighting-foam/
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Authorities focused on a chemical company Thursday as the likely source of a spill that has left a dark oily sheen for miles on the Flint River.
Lockhart Chemical in Flint was cooperating with state regulators and removing material from underground storage areas, said Jill Greenberg, spokeswoman at the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ap-chemical-company-flint-river-spill/
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Several thousands of gallons of an oil-based, dark black material with a petroleum smell spilled into the Flint River in Flint, authorities said Wednesday.
The spilled appeared to be 5 miles (8 kilometers) miles long, Jill Greenberg, a spokeswoman for Michigan’s environmental agency, told MLive.com.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ap-oily-material-flint-river/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
Illinois American Water is encouraging customers to view the company’s 2021 water quality reports to learn more about the source and quality of their drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/drinking-water-news-roundup-flooding-risk-epa-grants-ohio/
In February 2021, Detroit’s Michelle Martinez was excited like she hadn’t been in years about the potential of progress on core environmental and climate justice issues.
President Donald Trump, who took the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accords and was rolling back Obama-era environmental protections, was out of office.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/michigan-gov-plan-action/
One of the last known (and most famous) blue pike was landed by hook and line in 1962. In 1983, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the blue pike extinct. Yet, nearly 40 years later, the population remains robust and healthy – in the hearts and minds of countless anglers.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/lake-erie-blue-pike-never-forgotten/
SAULT STE. MARIE, Ontario. (AP) — An oil spill temporarily closed shipping traffic on the St. Marys River between Ontario and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday.
The 5,300-gallon (20,063-liter) spill originated from Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, around 10:30 a.m. Thursday.
The 75-mile (121-kilometer) river connects Lake Superior and Lake Huron and serves as part of the border between Michigan and Ontario.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ap-coast-guard-oil-spill-shipping/
One by one, netted fish arrived onto the boat: smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, common carp, gizzard shad, longnose gar.
They lay on their sides, briefly stunned by the electricity that was coursing from rods on the boat’s bow and then scooped on board the 21-foot vessel on a cloudy spring day on Lake Erie.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/african-scientists-great-lakes-international-exchange/
MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. (AP) — At least 15 people who attended a public affairs conference last week on Michigan’s Mackinac Island have tested positive for COVID-19, including U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The gathering is put on each year by a business group, the Detroit Regional Chamber, and attracts more than 1,000 public officials, journalists and others who discuss a variety of political and policy issues.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ap-covid-michigan-event/
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 Public Television.
The practice of rewilding is frequently carried out in wilderness areas, but cities like Detroit are beginning to reintroduce native species of plants and animals to enhance biodiversity and reap all the benefits of making nature part of everyday urban life.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/great-lakes-moment-rewilding-metropolitan-detroit/
The North American Sea Glass Association held its 16th Annual Sea Glass Festival at Maumee Bay State Park Lodge on Lake Erie – the first time it wasn’t held at a saltwater venue.
“This is probably the crème de la crème of festivals,” said Beverly Vinch, of Washed Ashore Jewelry, based in Avon Lake, Ohio.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/great-lakes-sea-glass/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
In September, Illinois lawmakers passed a watershed clean energy law which established the state as a leader for its efforts to decarbonize.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/energy-news-roundup-impending-energy-crisis/
Despite overwhelming public opposition based on public comments received by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the agency approved a water withdrawal and consumptive use permit for Massachusetts-based Aquabounty on March 14.
The permit will allow operators to pull about 28 million gallons from the Michindoh Aquifer to fill tanks at its state-of-the-art Atlantic salmon rearing facility in Pioneer, Ohio.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/salmon-farm-ohio-dnr/
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.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/testing-confirms-forever-chemicals-water-systems/
Great Lakes Now episodes are packed with important information on current topics.
In “Water’s True Cost,” learn about the aging infrastructure problem in Michigan and how many households struggle to pay their water bills. And in “The Catch” we look at the same problem in Ontario, the problem of Michigan’s lacking sewer regulations, and a new series on Great Lakes policy.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/waters-true-cost-the-great-lakes-now-episode-quiz/
After a big announcement in January celebrating $479 million directed to fully fund the construction of a new lock, the Army Corps of Engineers has had to walk it back, according to a report by The Detroit News.
The billion-dollar project, authorized by Congress at $922 million in 2018, is now estimated to be “somewhere between two times and three times” the cost, Sen.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/soo-locks-project-no-longer-fully-funded/
While growing up in California, Erica Gies became aware of the state’s water scarcity, which she told Great Lakes Now has led to a “low-key obsession about water for just about everyone in the state.”
California’s droughts have been a regular occurrence that put a spotlight on the importance of water for Gies, fostering a writing career on the topic that has spanned 15 years.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/water-always-wins-book/
Invasive zebra and quagga mussels are firmly established in the Great Lakes, and efforts to control them have proved mostly fruitless. But environmental managers still want to know where they are, how many there are and what they are up to, so they can predict how the ecosystem will be affected and protect vital infrastructure.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/ai-technology-invaders-great-lakes/
Love staring at a map and discovering something interesting? Then “Mapping the Great Lakes” is for you. It’s a monthly Great Lakes Now feature created by Alex B. Hill, a self-described “data nerd and anthropologist” who combines cartography, data, and analytics with storytelling and human experience.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/mapping-the-great-lakes-power-up/
By J. Carl Ganter, Circle of Blue
This story is part of “Water’s True Cost,” a series by the Great Lakes News Collaborative focused on the rising cost of water in Michigan and the various causes leading to the state of water systems today. Find the rest of the stories in the series here.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/waters-true-cost/
This is part two in a two-part series looking at the cost of water in Ontario. Read part one here, and find the Great Lakes News Collaborative’s series on cost of water in Michigan here.
Just how big an underinvestment Ontario is facing when it comes to the state of its drinking and wastewater infrastructure is difficult to tabulate.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/ontario-uneven-investment-water-infrastructure/
This is part one in a two-part series looking at the cost of water in Ontario. Find the Great Lakes News Collaborative’s series on cost of water in Michigan here.
Canadians living in the Great Lakes basin have perhaps become spoiled at the seemingly endless availability of water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/canada-aging-infrastructure-rising-costs/
When Monty and Rose – Chicago’s beloved piping plover pair – first successfully nested at Montrose Beach, a popular place on the city’s north side, people celebrated the potential return of a dying bird species and were charmed by the adorable tiny birds.
The Great Lakes piping plover population has been a U.S.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/monty-passes-rose-location-question/
Lynn Broaddus has little patience for cities who focus on the reasons why they can’t replace lead service lines.
She understands that finances are a big part of the problem but says too often cities focus on the barriers, instead of what’s possible.
Broaddus is the recent past-president and now a trustee with the international group Water Environment Federation, a non-profit focused on increasing the awareness of the impact and value of water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/water-executive-creative-replacing-lead-service-lines/
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of widespread man-made chemicals that don’t break down in the environment or the human body and have been flagged as a major contaminant in sources of water across the country.
Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/pfas-news-roundup-farmland-polluted-pfas-childrens-clothes/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
This story is part of “Water’s True Cost,” a series by the Great Lakes News Collaborative focused on the rising cost of water in Michigan and the various causes leading to the state of water systems today. Find the rest of the stories in the series here.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/michigan-water-systems-overbuilt-underfunded/
Every year thousands of anglers participate in fishing tournaments across the Great Lakes, with prizes ranging from a couple hundred bucks to tens of thousands of dollars. Some, like the Lake Erie Fall Brawl, offer new fishing boats valued at more than $100,000 as top prizes. Some events are targeted toward professional anglers, while others pair a professional angler and an amateur angler.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/fishing-tournament-trends-kayaks-catch-photo-release/
By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue
This story is part of “Water’s True Cost,” a series by the Great Lakes News Collaborative focused on the rising cost of water in Michigan and the various causes leading to the state of water systems today. Find the rest of the stories in the series here.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/high-cost-water-hits-home-michigan/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
This story is part of “Water’s True Cost,” a series by the Great Lakes News Collaborative focused on the rising cost of water in Michigan and the various causes leading to the state of water systems today. Find the rest of the stories in the series here.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/short-changing-michigan-local-governments-deteriorating-water-systems/
From TV segments to news articles, collaborative work with partners to social media strategy, environmentally focused coverage to community news, Great Lakes Now walked away from the Society of Professional Journalists – Detroit Chapter’s 2022 Excellence in Journalism award ceremony with a dozen acknowledgements for the work the regional team did in 2021.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/great-lakes-now-collects-12-journalism-awards/
In 1972, the federal Clean Water Act proclaimed an ambitious goal – “fishable, swimmable” waters across the U.S. by 1983. Today, just over half of assessed river and stream miles across the U.S. remain too polluted for swimming and recreation, aquatic life, fish consumption, or as drinking water sources.
That assessment comes from a newly released report from the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), a non-profit group founded in 2002 by former EPA enforcement attorneys.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/outdated-clean-water-act-polluted-rivers/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
This story is part of “Water’s True Cost,” a series by the Great Lakes News Collaborative focused on the rising cost of water in Michigan and the various causes leading to the state of water systems today. Find the rest of the stories in the series here.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/michigans-septic-system-problems-lakes/
This story is part of “Water’s True Cost,” a series by the Great Lakes News Collaborative focused on the rising cost of water in Michigan and the various causes leading to the state of water systems today. Find the rest of the stories in the series here.
In 2014, the legacy problem of lead pipes throughout the nation came to a head in Flint, Michigan, when the city emergency manager’s decision to switch the water source and not treat it to prevent corrosion led to lead leaching from the pipes into the city’s drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/michigans-water-systems-city-populations/
By Kelly House
This story is part of “Water’s True Cost,” a series by the Great Lakes News Collaborative focused on the rising cost of water in Michigan and the various causes leading to the state of water systems today. Find the rest of the stories in the series here.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/water-woes-michigan-suburbs-disinvestment/
By Lester Graham
This story is part of “Water’s True Cost,” a series by the Great Lakes News Collaborative focused on the rising cost of water in Michigan and the various causes leading to the state of water systems today. Find the rest of the stories in the series here.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/rural-towns-drinking-water-systems/
This story is part of “Water’s True Cost,” a series by the Great Lakes News Collaborative focused on the rising cost of water in Michigan and the various causes leading to the state of water systems today. Find the rest of the stories in the series here.
PONTIAC, Mich.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/bill-michigans-water-infrastructure/
The issue of invasive species has haunted the Great Lakes region for decades, but a recent study shows that regulatory intervention can actually help stem the problem.
The study, released by McGill University and the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, looked at the bi-national regulation of ballast water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/regulation-invasive-species-great-lakes/
The Great Lakes region may be best known for its freshwater resources, but another resource it has in abundance is its maple syrup. Canada is the world’s leading producer of maple syrup, generating 75% of the global supply. Within Canada, the province of Quebec is the top producer (96.4%) of maple syrup products followed by Ontario.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/mapping-the-great-lakes-sugar-maples/
By Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer
With climate change, plastic pollution and a potential sixth mass extinction, humanity has made some incredible messes in the world.
But when people, political factions and nations have pulled together, they have also cleaned up some of those human-caused environmental problems, including healing the ozone hole, clearing perpetually smoggy air and saving many species from the brink of extinction.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/ap-healing-ozone-hole-smog-eagles/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
On April 15, 2022, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA, IEPA, or Agency) approved a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for Williamson Energy, LLC Pond Creek Mine No.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/energy-news-roundup-ontario-natural-gas-energy-department-cybersecurity/
