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ESG 1500 News Blitz

sharing environmental science through the news 

Great Lakes Water Levels On The Rise

11/28/2019

5 Comments

 
By: Alex Hines
Summary: The Great Lakes exist in a fragile balance. The massive watershed they draw from is home to nearly 30 million people. Generally, water accumulates in the higher altitude waters of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan before flowing out through Huron, St. Clair, Erie, Ontario, and the St. Lawrence river out to the north Atlantic. This outflow has been in balance with the snow melt and rainfall recharge in the watershed for as long as people have lived in the area. Recently however, this has changed. 

The effects of climate change are widespread and still being dissected and discovered. In the Great Lakes region, it’s clear that increased precipitation and average temperature has caused an overload in lake levels. In the October of 2019, water levels rose as much as 3 feet in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and more than 15 inches in the other 3 great lakes. This has wide ranging consequences, many of Michigan’s lakeside communities rely on their coastlines for tourism revenue, property development, and fishing. Large cities like Chicago, Milwaukee, and Toronto are losing ground on fighting rising water, threatening huge amounts of property.

If the water levels are to correct themselves, the watershed needs to experience a serious dry season, and if recent climate trends continue, that doesn't look to be likely any time soon.
Why we should care? The Great Lakes are a huge part of what makes the Michigan ecosystem so special.  I feel that losing coastline on the lakes means losing a part of our state’s identity​.
Picture
Credit: Mandi Wright, Detroit Free Press
Example News Article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/06/06/great-lakes-are-overflowing-with-record-amounts-water/

This article was really educational in content, it contains lots of metrics and graphs that help visualize the problem. Interviews in the article were also varied and informative and came from people on many sides of this issue. Hearing from news sources, fire departments and climate scientists is extremely valuable. The article also provides a video link to a community already ravaged by rising water levels, in the Mississippi river valley, and draws parallels to the issues people living around Lake Erie have experienced. The article also puts snow and rainfall into context, providing real correlative climate data to support their analysis of the general problem.​
Science in Action.
Dr. Richard B. Rood is Professor of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering (Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences) at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor.

Dr. Rood’s primary research is in climate change problem solving. He regularly contributes numerical algorithms to go with his research and is a regular consultant to NOAA for their modeling services and works on their  Next Generation Global Prediction System. He has published work on climate modeling and has public engagement experience on great lakes regional issues. I find a lot of value in his research particularly on weather and climate as it relates to my blog topic. Professor Rood is a leading authority on how precipitation has effected and will effect levels of recharge in the Great Lakes watershed. His predictive models may be used to find the required inflow and outflow needed to remedy the situation we currently find ourselves in, with constantly rising water levels in all the Great Lakes.
5 Comments
Andre Alyass
11/29/2019 19:27:29

Nice article, its very worrying that the great lakes levels are rising. Considering how many people live on the coast, the levels of the lakes continuing to rise would displace many. Governments should really start taking action to combat climate change especially since the u.n described the global climate as "bleak" in their most recent report.

Reply
Delbert Robinson
12/3/2019 09:51:09

I was not aware the lakes were rising. The water bottle companies are probably salivating. Building houses on a coast line Isn't very smart. An increase of 3 ft. is significant. This tells me it could be to late considering the water cycle.

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Hassan Beydoun
12/5/2019 09:06:27

Well done! I am always fascinated by the lack of care for the Great Lakes in terms of protection over profit. I am glad that our current governor now is committed to preserving and protecting the Lakes, because they come with a great price if they continue to be used for corporate greed.

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Anthony J Provenzino
12/13/2019 16:21:35

This is pretty unfortunate for those communities which have been so badly flooded. What must that do to the property value or the insurance rates?! The WaPo article stated that the precipitation in the great lakes region was 150-200% higher than average- which is amazing. I wonder if maybe some thorough river engineering can help control the excess so that waterfront communities do not see such extensive damage.

Reply
Kaira Ocomen
12/15/2019 20:59:54

This article was very interesting and it sheds a light on the firsthand problem of climate change. This problem has and will impact Michigan and us. I grew up by Lake Huron for the majority of my life, and I have never heard anything like this before. It really provides a different perspective on something we do not see.

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