Other issues of importance in the Great Lakes Region-
Air and Land
Air Quality
Coastal Zone
Ecosystem Management
Habitat
Islands
Land Use
Sustainable Development
Wetlands
Plants and Animals
Biodiversity
Endangered Species
Forests
Invasive Species
People
Plants
Wildlife
Pollution
Air Toxics
Human Health
Pollution Prevention
Soil Erosion
Toxic Contamination
If you are a journalist that wants to start covering the environmental issues that are relevant to the Great Lakes region there are three issues that you must become aware of: changing water levels, water and waterway use, and fishing. These topics are currently very important to the people living in the region and they are the most talked about in the media. Below you will find a quick description of each of the issues and many links to resources that allow you to go in depth in each subject area.
Changing Water Levels-
Change in the water levels of the Great Lakes is natural. Water levels change seasonally each year and can vary dramatically over longer periods. Over time the levels have been both higher and lower than they are today.
Lake levels are most generally affected by the difference between the amount of water coming into a lake and the amount going out. When a period of above-average rainfall occurs alongside cooler cloudy conditions there will be less evaporation and the lake levels will rise. Likewise, long periods of lower-than-average rainfall and warmer temperatures results in the lowering of water levels.
The recent decline of Great Lakes’ water levels, now at lows not seen since the mid-1960s, is due mostly to evaporation during the warmer-than-usual temperatures of the past three years, a series of mild winters, and smaller-than-average snowfall in the Lake Superior region.
Because the major factors affecting the water supply to the lakes–precipitation, evaporation and runoff–cannot be controlled or predicted for more than a few weeks into the future, the influence of man-made regulation of lake levels is very limited. Nature has most of the control, adding water through snow and rain, and taking it away through evaporation.
There are three types of lake level changes: short-term, seasonal, and long-term.
Short-term changes
Some water level fluctuations are not a function of changes in the amount of water in the lakes, but are due to wind or changes in air pressure. These short-term movements are often due to storms or ice jams and can last from a couple hours to several days.
This can occur when sustained high winds from one direction push the water level up at one end of a lake, and causes the level drop the same amount at the opposite end. (See the picture below) These events are most common on Lake Erie because of its east-west orientation.
Seasonal changes
In the fall and early winter, when the air above the lakes is cold and dry and the lakes are relatively warm, a lot of water is evaporated from the lakes. This causes water levels fall to their seasonal lows.
As the snow melts in the spring, the amount of water flowing off the land and into the lakes increases. Evaporation from the lakes is also less in the spring and summer when the air above the lakes is warm and moist and the lakes are cold. With more water entering the lakes than leaving, water levels rise to their highest in the summer.
The range of seasonal water level changes in the Great Lakes averages about 12 to 18 inches from winter lows to summer highs. Seasonal rises begin earlier on the more southern lakes because of the slightly warmer climate.
Long-term changes
Long-term lake level changes occur over a periods of several years. Many wet and cold years in a row will cause water levels to rise. Likewise, many warm and dry years in a row will cause water levels to decline. Over the last century, the range from extreme high to extreme low water levels has been nearly 4 feet for Lake Superior and between 6 and 7 feet for the other Great Lakes. The last few years have been very hot and dry in the Great Lakes region and this has caused the lake levels to decrease. Many attribute this decline to global warming.
For more information about climate change and the Great Lakes visit this site
There is lots of information available on this subject. Check out the links below for in-depth data and background.
A publication by the Great Lakes Commission that explains the natural function of the Great Lakes ecosystem, how human behavior influences the system, how water levels are currently controlled, the effects of lake level fluctuations, and the best ways to live along the shoreline. It is a very informative resource for background information on lake level change.
This lake level data has been collected and archived by NOAA’s National Ocean Service Great Lakes. These water levels make up one of the longest high quality water and climate data sets in North America with water gage records beginning around 1860 and sporadic records back to the early 1800’s.
October 2007 Great Lakes water level summary- Army Corps of Engineers
Gives the water level changes for all the lakes for the month of October and compares them to the long-term average.
Data from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) that gives the gaging stations’ hourly water level data and graphs for the past and current month.
Recent and Predicted Water Levels of the Great Lakes
Data from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) that includes average monthly water levels for any year and compares it to the previous year. Records are available from 1918-1996.
Great Lakes Water Level Photo Gallery
Organized by region, this gallery contains both current and historical images of the coastline and links to related water level updates.
More information on these topics coming soon
Here is a sample of the many resources for Great Lakes news. Below you can find the links to the news feeds and a short description of the organization from their website.
The Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN) is a partnership that provides one place online for people to find information relating to the binational Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region of North America. GLIN offers a wealth of data and information about the region’s environment, economy, tourism, education and more. Thanks to its strong network of state, provincial, federal and regional partner agencies and organizations, GLIN has become a necessary component of informed decisionmaking, and a trusted and reliable source of information for those who live, work or have an interest in the Great Lakes region.
Source
The National Science Foundation’s Division of Ocean Sciences supports a network of coordinated centers that facilitate collaborations and communications between ocean science researchers and educators. These Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) foster the integration of ocean research into high quality educational materials, allow ocean researchers to gain a better understanding of educational organizations and pedagogy, provide educators with an enhanced capacity to understand and deliver high-quality educational programs in the ocean sciences, and provide material to the public that promotes a deeper understanding of the ocean and its influence on each person’s quality of life and our national prosperity. The Great Lakes are included in this network because the Lakes have been historically included in Marine and Aquatic education.
Source
The International Joint Commission is an independent binational organization established by the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. Its purpose is to help prevent and resolve disputes relating to the use and quality of boundary waters and to advise Canada and the United States on related questions.
Source
Great Lakes Directory
There are currently over a thousand Great Lakes environmental articles posted in this free online library. This library is an educational source for the public and provides an opportunity for the over 1000 organizations listed in this directory to post articles regarding Great Lakes environmental issues.
The Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council
Representing a major interest in the resources of the Great Lakes states Illinois , Indiana , Michigan , Minnesota , New York , Ohio, Pennsylvania , Wisconsin , and the Province of Ontario The Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council is a confederation of organizations and individuals who share a concern for the present and future of sport fishing, our natural and stocked resources and the ecosystem in which we live.
Source
The GLIN is the best starting place for information on Great Lakes issues. They have a great news need and links to many other Great Lakes websites. Every month they highlight a website within their network and the site of the month archives is very useful place to begin exploring the wealth of information about the Great Lakes. Below is the link to the site of the month page and a description of the program from the GLIN website.
GLIN links hundreds of agencies and organizations serving the Great Lakes region. You may not have visited them all yet, especially with new data and information and more partners coming online every month. Because partnership is the core of GLIN, each month we highlight the wealth of information available on the web site of one active GLIN partner. These partners work closely with the GLIN Project Team to ensure that their information is integrated into the regional network; in turn, these partners point back to relevant GLIN pages from wherever appropriate on their own web sites so that people can easily find information about a topic of interest.
One of the most important resources for journalists are the scientists doing research in the field.
The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, sponsors lots of research on the Great Lakes region.
Some of the recent research has been:
Land Surface Roughness Effects on Lake Effect Precipitation
Short-term water mass movements in Lake Michigan: Implications for larval fish transport.
Classification of annual Great Lakes ice cycles: Winters of 1973-2002
They have over 30 researchers on staff, doing work in many different fields. Much of the studies involve fish and other freshwater ecology and hydraulic modeling.
A list of these researchers, the areas of research, and their contact information is available on this site.
The Great Lakes Research Consortium is another group of researchers that are exploring the same issues.
The consortium consists of over 350 researchers at universities in the Great Lakes Region. These universities include 18 colleges and universities in New York and nine affiliate schools in Ontario.
A full list of all the scientists can be found here, along with all of their contact information.
More information about discipline specific research journals will be coming soon.
A recent conference in Chicago, IL, sponsored by the Healing Our Waters Great Lakes Coalition and the Alliance for the Great Lakes, focused on the growing problems in the Great Lakes region and what should be done about it. One of the more interesting conclusions to come out of the conference was that the ’swing state’ label that many of the Great Lakes States carry will acutally be the greatest tool in bringing national attention to the problems of the area. Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana are states that could play a large role in deciding the next Presidential election and they are all impacted by the recent changes in lake level and the continuing degradation of the region.
For more information about the Great Lakes and the Presidential campaign check out this article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
For more information on the 3rd Annual Great Lakes Restoration Conference check out these sites…
The Great Lakes are a chain of five large freshwater lakes that form the largest lake group in the world, covering an area of 95,000 sq miles. This is about the same size as the state of Wyoming, the 10th largest state in the US. They are the largest surface freshwater system on the Earth. They contain about 84 percent of North America’s surface fresh water and about 21 percent of the world’s supply. Only the polar ice caps contain more fresh water.
Nearly 25 percent of Canadian agricultural production and 7 percent of American farm production are located in the Great Lakes basin. More than 30 million people live in the region - roughly 10 percent of the U.S. population and more than 30 percent of the Canadian population.
For more information on that data for these calculations see this site
In spite of their large size, the Great Lakes are sensitive to the effects of a wide range of pollutants. Major stresses on the lakes include toxic and nutrient pollution, invasive species and habitat degradation. Sources of pollution include the runoff of soils and farm chemicals from agricultural lands, waste from cities, discharges from industrial areas and leaching from disposal sites. The large surface area of the lakes also makes them vulnerable to direct atmospheric pollutants that enter the system as rain, snow, or dust on the lake surface. The amount of water that leaves Great Lakes annually is relatively small (less than 1 percent per year) in comparison with the total volume of water. Pollutants that enter the lakes are retained in the system and become more concentrated with time.
In the early years of Canada and the United States the waterways were vital to fur trading and regional development. In modern times they remain a significant transportation route for iron ore, steel, petroleum, grain, American automobiles, and other products.
The names of the lakes are Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario.
Lake Superior at 31,698 sq miles, is the largest fresh water lake in the world. It is about 350 miles long and 160 miles at its widest point. The deepest point is 1,332 ft, while the average depth is 500 ft. The shoreline is 2,730 miles including islands.
Lake Huron is 23,011 sq miles and is 206 miles long and 183 miles at its widest point. The deepest point is 750 ft, while the average depth is 195 ft. The shoreline is 3,830 miles including islands.
Lake Michigan is 22,316 sq miles and is the largest freshwater lake that is totally contained within the United States. It is 307 miles long and 118 miles at its widest point. The deepest point is 925 ft, with an average depth of 279 ft. The shoreline is 1,640 miles including islands.
Lake Erie has an area of 9,922 sq miles. It is 240 miles long and 38 to 57 miles wide, depending on the location. The deepest point is 210 ft, while the average depth is 48 ft. The shoreline is 871 miles including islands.
Lake Ontario, at 7,320 sq miles, is the smallest of the Great Lakes. It is about 193 miles long and 53 miles at its widest point. Because of low elevation above sea level and shallow depths (500 to 800 ft in some places), it doesn’t freeze in winter, unlike the other lakes in the chain. The deepest point is 802 ft, while the average depth is 283 ft. The shoreline is 871 miles including islands.
Sources
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/greatlk.htm
http://epa.gov/greatlakes/basicinfo.html
For additional information and facts see these sites
Great Lakes Information Network
Environment Canada, Our Great Lakes
Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
Great Lakes Science Center: US Geological Survey
Also, new photos of the Sleeping Bear Dune region on the Photos tab
When it comes to the Great Lakes there are just so many issues that you can hardly cover them all. This blog will investigate how environmental issues in the Great Lakes region are covered by journalists and what you need to know in order to effectively cover this beat. That being said here are some more blogs that cover happenings in the Great Lakes region…
Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable Blog
Great Lakes, Great Times, Great Scott
More to come soon…
