An area like the Great Lakes that has rain and higher temperatures in the summer, followed by a cold, snowy winter, is best suited for maple production.
But the Great Lakes maple season is evolving as climate change increasingly impacts maple syrup production with shorter harvest seasons, less sugar production and unreliable sap flow.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/great-lakes-sugaring-season/
In less than a decade, Joliet, Illinois, could run out of water.
The city of 150,000 people, roughly 45 minutes southwest of Chicago, is facing a looming water crisis as the patchwork of underground wells and aquifers it currently uses for municipal water is drying up.
Joliet currently relies on the Cambrian-Ordovician sandstone aquifer system for its water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/build-new-pipeline-illinois-lake-michigan-water/
Some dives are so pivotal that they permanently fuse themselves into my memory bank.
I’ll never forget my first open water dive in the St. Clair River under my family’s dock, or the first time I looked for a drowning victim as a member of the St. Clair County Sherriff Department Dive Rescue and Recovery team.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/round-goby-great-lakes/
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:
On March 11, IDOC and the Illinois Department of Public Health released a joint press release announcing that Legionella bacteria had been detected in two prisons—Stateville Correctional Center and Joliet Treatment Center.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/drinking-water-news-roundup-epa-rocket-fuel-prison-water-contaminated/
Editor’s Note: This is part two of a two-part story. Read the first part here.
Ed Matusik and his wife were in their new summer vacation trailer for just a month at Bay Point Resort and Marina in 2006 when they received an eviction letter: the investment group which recently purchased the site had plans for a new development in that section of the resort.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/trailer-parks-campgrounds-waterfront-developments/
Broadcasting in our monthly PBS television program, The Catch is a Great Lakes Now series that brings you more news about the lakes you love. Go beyond the headlines with reporters from around the region who cover the lakes and drinking water issues. Find all the work HERE.
Mount Baldy is moving inland.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/the-catch-dune-moves-inland/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Yue Jiang, Great Lakes Echo
Global warming will produce more frequent high rainfall events in the Upper Great Lakes, according to a University of Guelph expert.
Rather than average water levels falling as previously assumed, it’s possible that the average will increase because of more precipitation, which will constrict the beach area, said emeritus professor Robin Davidson-Arnott of the Department of Geography, Environment & Geomatics.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/global-warming-impact-great-lakes-beaches/
PFAS research is still in the early stages, which means issues with PFAS crop up all the time to surprise researchers like Michigan State University professor Cheryl Murphy.
PFAS, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are known as Forever Chemicals because of their reluctance to break down in humans. They can be in the food chain, drinking water and are found in common items in everyday commercial use like water-repellent clothing, dental floss and non-stick cookware.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/pfas-solution-widespread-sources/
In-person events are back as people slowly reintroduce themselves to dining in, large gatherings and a return to the office.
But even as indoors becomes less taboo, let’s not forget the great outdoors, which served us well over the past two years. And what better time to show your gratitude to the parks than Earth Day.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/earth-day-2022/
Broadcasting in our monthly PBS television program, The Catch is a Great Lakes Now series that brings you more news about the lakes you love. Go beyond the headlines with reporters from around the region who cover the lakes and drinking water issues. Find all the work HERE.
Benton Harbor’s water problems aren’t new.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/the-catch-benton-harbor-lead-pipes/
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.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/vow-remove-lead-benton-harbor-homes/
Editor’s Note: This is part one of a two-part story. Look for the next part next week.
Every summer for the last decade, James Peterson, his wife and two daughters traveled from Charleston, West Virginia, to Kaspar’s Lake Breeze Cottages in Marblehead, Ohio, to fish, relax and soak up the beauty and restorative power of Lake Erie.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/water-access-grows-out-of-reach/
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.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/pandemic-shock-pushes-wisconsin-tribes-to-diversify-economy/
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.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/climate-funding-ottawa-2030-plan/
By Kari Lydersen, Energy News Network
This story was first published on the Energy News Network and was republished here with permission.
Illinois activists who led fights to close coal plants and ban petroleum coke storage are now leading the charge for a bill that would provide new powers and funding to environmental justice communities.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/illinois-environmental-justice-bill-prevent-pollution/
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 Great Lakes represent one-fifth the standing freshwater on the Earth’s surface, provide ecosystem services or benefits to approximately 34 million people living in the basin, and serve as the foundation for the $5 trillion regional economy that would be one of the largest in the world if it stood alone as a country.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/great-lakes-moment-historic-great-lakes-agreement-anniversary/
Geo Rutherford is an artist and an educator based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. But what a lot of people might recognize her from the most is the social media application TikTok, where Rutherford runs an account making pretty popular videos all about the Great Lakes.
Though originally from Colorado, Rutherford went to school at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and stuck around in Milwaukee after graduation.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/great-lakes-ice-popular-tiktok/
Geo Rutherford is an artist and an educator based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. But what a lot of people might recognize her from the most is the social media application TikTok, where Rutherford runs an account making pretty popular videos all about the Great Lakes.
Though originally from Colorado, Rutherford went to school at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and stuck around in Milwaukee after graduation.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/great-lakes-ice-popular-tiktok/
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:
The lawsuit filed against Marathon Pipe Line in Madison County Court alleges multiple violations of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/04/weatherization-money-low-income-homes-misinformation-energy-projects/
Great Lakes Now tries to make every episode interesting and educational.
In “Surf and Slide,” GLN Host Ward Detwiler learns ice boating from one of the best in the world – right in southeast Michigan. Follow along with the all-women surfing group Lake Surfistas as they strive to make lake surfing more welcoming and stay warm in winter waves.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/surf-and-slide-episode-quiz/
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/2022/03/mapping-great-lakes-lighthouses/
On a cool fall day in 2007, Robin Pacquing slipped on a wetsuit, grabbed a surfboard and headed into Lake Ontario.
As a teenager, Pacquing had been a huge Baywatch fan and learned to love surfing during a family trip to Hawaii. As an adult, she went on to surf the waves off Tofino, British Colombia, never dreaming she might do the same just outside her door.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/surfing-great-lakes/
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.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/chicago-educator-empowers-students-climate-connections-communities/
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/2022/03/pfas-news-roundup-indiana-new-ohio-pfas-regulation-bill/
The largest known muskie is 67 pounds 8 ounces. Or it’s 69 pounds 11 ounces. Or it’s 70 pounds 10 ounces. Depending on the type of record, whom you ask or what organization you trust, it could be any of those answers.
After Great Lakes Now published a column on muskies that referenced record sizes, it kicked off a dispute among readers on what record was the most accurate, so Great Lakes Now decided to do a deeper dive.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/who-caught-worlds-largest-muskie/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Shelby Frink, Great Lakes Echo
A scientist may have found a native aquatic plant in Ohio that was once thought to be wiped out in the state.
The watermilfoil species has not been seen in Ohio in at least 20 years, said Mark Warman, the scientist who found the plant on private property last September after his friend posted photos on the social network iNaturalist.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/native-aquatic-plant-ohio/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Shelby Frink, Great Lakes Echo
A scientist may have found a native aquatic plant in Ohio that was once thought to be wiped out in the state.
The watermilfoil species has not been seen in Ohio in at least 20 years, said Mark Warman, the scientist who found the plant on private property last September after his friend posted photos on the social network iNaturalist.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/native-aquatic-plant-ohio/
I’ve been outsmarted by more than one species.
A red fox in a Florida nature preserve comes to mind. I observed the fox entering a den and spent two hours patiently waiting for it to emerge so I could take its picture – only to discover the clever fellow had exited out the back shortly after I parked myself out front.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/playing-peek-a-boo-with-ducks/
During the March “Great Lakes Week” organized by the Great Lakes Commission, Rep. Marcy Kaptur talked about the Great Lakes Authority.
The Great Lakes Authority, which would be a federal entity focused on the economic interests of the Great Lakes region, is an idea that the congresswoman has fought to put into legislation for a few years already.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/legislation-great-lakes-authority-federal-entity/
When it comes to dealing with Michigan’s regulators on environmental justice issues, Detroit environmental law attorney Nick Leonard wants to change the narrative.
Too often when confronted with decisions that impact environmental justice communities, regulators focus on limitations and what they can’t do, Leonard recently told Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/substantive-change-federal-state-local-agencies/
In Lake Huron’s Les Cheneaux Islands, a school is preserving the craft of building wooden boats.
Opened in 2005, the Great Lakes Boat Building School is located in Cedarville, Michigan, a small town tucked in the scenic bays and natural harbors of the area. A few dozen students a year learn how to build wooden boats.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/great-lakes-boat-building-school-grant-funding/
This summer, a Great Lakes watchtower will celebrate its 200th birthday as any centenarian should: with cake and ice cream.
The Marblehead Lighthouse sits on Lake Erie’s temperamental shore in Ohio, about 20 miles away from Sandusky. It’s the oldest continually operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes, thanks to the state of Ohio, which, according to the Marblehead Lighthouse Historical Society, took over the maintenance in the 1990s.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/lighthouse-restoration/
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.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/invasive-carp-money-great-lakes/
If you notice your packages arriving much faster than they did at the start of the pandemic, it isn’t just a minor coincidence – rather, it could be the Great Lakes shipping industry making a comeback after weathering the effects of COVID-19’s spread.
“(This) has been a bounce-back season from the COVID-induced lows of 2020,” said Jason Hron, director of communication and marketing for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/2022-great-lakes-shipping-season-infrastructure-improvements-covid-19/
By Mike Householder and John Flesher, Associated Press
STANDISH, Mich. (AP) — Bridget Wheelock knelt onto the frozen surface of Lake Huron’s Saginaw Bay, reached a gloved hand into the frigid water below and pulled out a large chunk of ice.
“There’s a little bit of prism effect.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/ap-scientists-rare-great-lakes-frozen-surfaces/
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/2022/03/legislation-bottled-water-protections-groundwater/
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.
It was a mid-winter day, and I was driving to my Downriver home from a meeting in Detroit.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/great-lakes-moment-bald-eagles-detroit/
By Lindsey Smith, 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/2022/03/benton-harbor-residents-epa-filters/
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/2022/03/pfas-wisconsin-weakened-state-standards-trout-contaminated/
Just like the atmosphere and the ocean, lakes can be subject to extreme spikes in temperature, and new research shows that the vast majority of these heatwaves over the past 25 years are the result of human-caused climate change.
Iestyn Woolway – a climate scientist at Bangor University in Wales – and his colleagues analysed satellite data of surface temperatures in lakes around the world, including the Great Lakes, to identify when and where heatwaves occurred since the satellites came online in 1995.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/lake-heatwaves-human-climate-change/
Steadier federal funding instead of annual appropriations coming out of debates, direct investment for local communities to meet federal mandates, a dual focus on environmental clean up and economic development.
Those would be three benefits of a Great Lakes Authority, according to Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) who spoke today during the Great Lakes Week session organized by the Great Lakes Commission.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/great-lakes-authority-proposed-ohio-congress-marcy-kaptur/
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.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/michigan-global-report-climate/
By Zahra Ahmad, 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.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/03/dnr-fishing-regulations-michigans-2022-season/
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/2022/02/mapping-great-lakes-name/
Summer is hands-down the most popular fishing season on the Great Lakes because people on vacation want to fish.
But Great Lakes fishing is a year-round sport. With a range of fish that offer a tasty meal, a challenge to land or both, anglers can have 365 days of fun on the lakes and their tributaries.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/02/top-10-fish-catch-great-lakes-fishing/
From the segment “Love for a Lighthouse” comes an activity where students can imagine what it was like to live in a Great Lakes lighthouse and a STEM lesson plan teaching students how to measure the light’s intensity.
Another Great Lakes Now lesson plan guides students in building their own aluminum foil boats and testing their buoyancy by loading them with pennies, after taking them on a virtual visit to the Great Lakes Boat Building School.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/02/news-free-lesson-plans-pbs/
María Hernández, a University of Chicago graduate student studying microbial ecology, was both nervous and eager to traverse a frozen Green Bay. Being sure to walk slowly and carefully, she assisted fellow researchers in extracting samples of ice-cold freshwater.
“We’re out here because we usually sample in the spring and summer,” said Hernández, “So this is the first time we’re going to be sampling in the winter, and it just gives us another view into what the microbes are doing at different times of the year.”
Hernandez and her University of Chicago colleagues were joined by University of Minnesota Duluth researchers on Monday for the recently launched “Winter Grab,” a first of its kind, week-long collection event for regional researchers studying Great Lakes’ winter conditions.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/02/scratching-surface-regional-research-winter-conditions/
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/2022/02/pfas-news-roundup-annual-blood-tests-pennsylvania-deer/
A recent burst of cold weather has boosted Great Lakes ice coverage from initial projections that were well below historical average back to the typical range.
But the current levels still expose a long-term trend of overall declining coverage, scientists say.
“In terms of Great Lakes ice cover, we do see decline and reduced ice cover in recent decades,” Ayumi Fujisaki-Manome, assistant research scientist with the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research, said in an interview with Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/02/great-lakes-ice-forms/
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.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/02/grand-rapids-lake-road-salt/
