Great Lakes Conservation
The American Great Lakes; Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario make up 21% of the world’s surface, fresh water. These lakes are home to a variety of wildlife species and fish that are a concern. The lakes also provide drinking water for 40 million people. Commercial fishing, sport fishing and Native American fishing are the major industries providing jobs in the Great Lakes Region and this impacts the fragile ecosystem. The urban runoff and sprawl, sewage disposal, agriculture and toxic industrial waste also affect human health, fish populations, and aquatic food chains. The Great Lakes Restoration initiative is the largest investment in the Great Lakes in two decades. There is a task force of 11 federal agencies that developed an action plan to implement the initiative. The action plan is to cover fiscal years 2010-2014 and addressed five urgent issues. Those issues include; 1. Cleaning up toxics and areas of concern. 2. Combating invasive species, 3. Promoting nearshore health by protecting watersheds from polluted runoff, 4. Restoring wetlands and other habitats. 5. Tracking progress and working with strategic partners. In 2012 and 2013 with the input of citizens 3 key priorities helped to guide the restoration project. They were cleaning up areas of concern, reducing nutrients entering the lakes and preventing the introduction of new, invasive species. New technologies, such as a swimming video camera and an all-terrain robot, are granting researchers their first glimpse of a region critical to the Great Lakes’ health.
The Action Plan
Toxic substances and Areas of concern: includes pollution prevention, clean up of the most polluted areas in the Great Lakes. Although many so...
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...tario. The great lakes Water Quality Agreement is an international agreement between Canada and the United States their collective goals are to restore and maintain the Great Lakes. The agreement outlines the commitments of both countries to restore and maintain water quality and aquatic ecosystem health in the Great Lakes. Since 1989 Canada has spent 355 million dollars to help restore the ecosystems. Canada currently invests 48 million a year on the restoration projects. President Barack Obama's administration developed the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in 2009, that provided $475 million dollars the first year and $300 million annually since. Last year a house subcommittee proposed slashing the allocation to 60 million starting in 2014. It is feared that this 80% cut would gut the programs and this would have a major impact on Canada and the U.S. Sources
As if there weren’t enough problems for scientists trying to save the Great Lakes Eco System. Many non-native species have entered the eco system and many of them are harmful. Every species in itself has played a role in the eco system. These non-native species make it increasingly difficult for the Great Lakes Eco System to be regulated.
Since more than 70% of the Earth is covered with water, one would assume that there is enough water for everyone. However, this statement would be incorrect. Only 3% of that water is considered usable and 2% of the usable water is locked in the polar ice caps. This leaves 1% of that water for the use of humans. Canada possesses a substantial amount of this water, while other countries are less fortunate. One of these countries is the United States of America, the biggest users of water in the world. They are looking for a new source of water and have been hoping Canada can be this new source. The Canadian government should accept the proposal to sell water in bulk to the United States due to the availability, the safety and the economic opportunities it would bring.
Once More to the Lake and The Pond. White and Thoreau, two diverse minds. When you look into their writings you seem to find something that rises to your attention, some of what you see seems to fit into the others writing. Yet taking a closer look you see that they are not particularly saying the same thing. Is it because they felt like writing or did something cause these writers to exploit there minds and make something out of their thoughts? Every sentence and every word say something much deeper. When reading these writings you have to look deep within the writing. You begin to notice you are reading something quite fascinating.
The Chesapeake Bay plays host to an astonishing amount of plant and animal life, providing much of our fish intake for species that aren’t being overfished. For the species that are being overdrawn, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation is working to restore the populations, and it’s going well thus far. Another theme that is endangering the marine life populations as well as the health of the human population is the massive amount of polluti...
According to the Worldwatch Institute the rapid industrialization has polluted many lakes and streams resulting in chemical pollution and increased algae blooms leaving the water undrinkable. These combined issues are then causing knock on effects to the aquatic life by staving them of oxygen. Many areas are also suffering with an increase in dust storms; these have been a cause of over agricultural use. These increased storms would not cause many problems but now they can ...
As global temperatures and ocean levels rise, the water levels of the Great Lakes continues to fall. As the lakes hit their all time lowest level in global history in 2012, society remains ignorant to the imposing doom that lurks ahead. Since the Great Lakes make up the largest group of fresh water lakes on Earth and are responsible for approximately 21% of the Earth’s fresh water supply, this issue is becoming one of the largest environmental and economical issues our modern world faces. The effects of this issue include destroying animal habitats and a major economic market; shipping. Water levels in the Great Lakes have been dropping for the past fourteen years, but it wasn’t until boats were scraping the bottom of Lake Huron that people began to take notice. This terrible environmental issue has been dubbed a long term cycle of over evaporation and not enough precipitation to replenish the Lakes. Keith Kompoltowicz, chief of watershed hydrology for the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Detroit has been monitoring this issue for a decade and has made startling discoveries, such as in 2012, he discovered Lake Michigan and Lake Huron’s water levels only rose four inches after winter, whereas the Lakes have been regularly recorded as gaining a foot of water after the winter season had ended. This amount of water added is not enough to maintain a proper water level during the dry, hot summer seasons that evaporate much water from the Great Lakes. While some scientists say that this is just a cycle that will adjust itself naturally, most experts that have been studying this phenomenon, such as Kompoltwicz, would agree that the issue has gone to far
The Great Lakes Heritage Coast is a forward step in protecting and preserving the coastline. There needs to be further action taken in order for this project to be put in place. One of the key aspects in doing so is community involvement, such as First Nations people.
EPA. (2009, December 29). Retrieved January 15, 2011, from Toxicity and Exposure Assessment for Children's Health: http://www.epa.gov/teach/
On January 9th, 2014, it was reported that a chemical spill has occurred from a storage tank owned by Freedom Industries. The spill occurred on the banks of Elk River in West Virginia, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without tap water. The company first reported that 7500 gallons of the chemicals had spilled into the river through a one-inch whole but had found that two weeks later, there was an estimated 10000 gallons of the toxic chemical in the river. The chemicals released include 4-methylcyclohexane (MCHM) and PPH. Methylcyclohexane is a chemical that is used in coal to reduce the amount of ash it produces(Field & Catherine, 2014). The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection are still calculating the exact amount of how much of the chemicals were spilled.
Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable. GLRPPR, 12 Dec. 2013. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. .
Then the documentary tackles Puget Sound. The Duwamish River is the largest hot spot in the nation. In 2001, the Duwamish River was classified as a “Super Fund” site. This is given to a site that will receive federal assistance for clean up. But yet, it may be too late. Puget Sound in contaminated with PCP, lead and mercury. The threat comes from the giant industrial polluters of old and from chemicals in consumers’ face creams, deodorants, prescription medicines and household cleaners that find their way into sewers, storm drains, eventually into America’s waterways and drinking water.
...g prematurely destroyed by trucks hauling garbage that is not ours. It is our water and air that is being polluted by the hundreds of Canada's garbage trucks and millions of tons of Canada's garbage. We will soon no longer need Canada to dispose of hazardous waste due to the proposition of using the Yucca Mountains in Nevada as a dump site. And as for saying that Canada's garbage is cleaner than ours, who cares it is still garbage. The U.S. needs now more than ever to enforce the treaty that was signed in 1986. Since January 1, 2001, there has been a 40% increase in the amount of garbage that is being imported from Toronto. Michigan should not be the dumpsite for another countries garbage. Michigan's air and water are being polluted by garbage that is not ours. American lawmakers need to stop the two-way street that is destroying the Great Lakes state.
There is no denying the presences of the Great Lakes, not only are they unavoidable, but they have also been a major player in the growing of civilization in North America and Canada. A person would have to live under a rock, no pun intended, to not know about these phenomenons. Most would ask from where did these Great Lakes come? How did they form? How are they beneficial? What are some of the Great Lakes here? A Great Lake is an extremely large inland freshwater sea, which is amazing since we are surround by oceans occupied with salt water. The Great Lakes are the largest system of fresh surface water on Earth, which makes them vital to our survival. However, they have been subject to damage by pollutants. There are five lakes in North America, which are: Lake Michigan, Huron, Erie, Superior, and Ontario. Not many people take the time to try to understand our Great Lakes or the importance of them. Coming to understand what these Great Lakes are, how they got here, and how they are beneficial to our ecosystem will ultimately help us further appreciate their vital diversity and encourage us to preserve them.
Water pollution has had devastating effects on the environment, which include irreversible effects on the oceans ecosystem. People often underestimate the importance of the ocean. They don’t realize how much damage pollution has caused to the ocean and the thousands of creatures that inhabit it. Earth is a huge place, but resources are actually very limited and will not last forever unless there is a balance. We must protect the resources we have in order for them to last into the next generation.
Rogers, Peter. 2008. "Facing the Freshwater CRISIS. (Cover story)." Scientific American 299, no. 2: 46-53. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 4, 2010).