Tag archives for great lakes
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Until recently, my concept of a ‘garbage patch’ was of an area of ocean with large pieces of floating debris, the kind of stray fishing gear and trash from ships and shorelines that collect where currents form eddies far from view of most people. Having seen my share of sea trash in 20,000+ miles of…
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The Great Lakes hold 20 percent of the world’s available surface freshwater–enough to cover the continental United States with 10 feet of water if you turned them upside down. In many places along the lakes, you can stand on one side without seeing the shoreline on the other because they are so huge. It’s difficult…
The Great Lakes are the largest supply of freshwater in the world, and more than 36 million people depend on them for drinking water. As a result, monitoring and maintaining the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem is an urgent priority. Of the diverse organisms inhabiting freshwater systems, fishes are familiar to scientists and laypeople…
A new environmental threat map of the Great Lakes serves as a powerful visualization tool for those interested in the challenges facing lake restoration efforts. The map brings to mind the adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” But the colorful image is worth even more than that – the red, orange, and blue…
It looks like low water levels on the Great Lakes will be added to the record-breaking climate-related events of 2012. The water level on Lakes Michigan and Huron dropped another 2.5 inches (6 cm) in December, unofficially breaking a nearly 50-year-old record for the month. Last month’s average for both lakes – considered one lake…
Geography in the News: Lake-Effect Snow
Posted by Neal Lineback of Maps101.com and Maps.com on December 23, 2012 
Lake-effect snow has finally arrived in the Midwest, as winter has finally arrived. This post explains the cause and geography of lake-effect snow events around the Great Lakes, with particular focus on Buffalo, NY.
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Building a beach is more intensive than you’d think. Shoreline communities have dredged for new sand for decades to keep their beaches attractive. Will super storms make it harder?
For people living around the Great Lakes, water levels this past month have appeared much lower than many will remember. The upper Great Lakes reached near-record low water levels in October. This was most evident on Lakes Michigan and Huron, where lake levels dropped to less than two inches (4 cm) above record lows…
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Reports of bizarre Wizard of Oz-like weather over Lake Michigan are touching down all over the Internet.
This past weekend, up to nine twisters were sighted over the lake. But they weren’t traditional tornadoes; they were waterspouts.
The funnels form when large, cool, and moist air masses move in over warmer surface water and winds abruptly change directions. The warming trend that researchers and locals are seeing around the Great Lakes could mean more waterspouts.
