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Strategic plan targets invasive species
The Superior Daily Telegram (11/17)
Douglas County’s Land Conservation Committee is forwarding a plan to the county board that takes aim at invasive species.
Mich. Clean Marina Program: Public-private partners work together to improve water quality
Grand Rapids Environmental News Examiner (11/9)
Partners from the public and private sector in Michigan are working together in a voluntary program to improve the quality of the Great Lakes.
Researchers seek funding for wind test site in Lake Michigan
Grand Rapids Environmental News Examiner (11/7)
In a recent article in The Muskegon Chronicle, it was reported that researchers at Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center (MAREC) cited a lack of year-around data (on wind platform testing) needed by prospective development companies.
COMMENTARY: Senate needs to pass clean energy act to help Michigan
The Grand Rapids Press (10/26)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was absolutely correct with his recent proclamation about the current condition of the Great Lakes State: "The State of Michigan," Reid declared from the Senate Floor, with a copy Time Magazine in his hand, "is in trouble."
First Nation women 'walk the environmental talk'
WeNews (10/23)
Tomorrow's global day of climate activism aims for media and political attention. First Nation women have another way. Since 2003, they've walked the shoreline of a Great Lake or major river, meditating on the needs of an unborn generation.
City making big push for water school
The Business Journal (10/23)
The push is on to convince the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee that the best location for its new School of Freshwater Sciences is near the university’s existing Great Lakes Water Institute on East Greenfield Avenue.
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What specific species of wildlife are being endangered by the pollution of the Great Lakes?
from Julie in Chicago, Illinois, Age 13
Pollution in the Great Lakes affects the water itself as well as the life in and around the water. This includes the lives of many species of wildlife, not to mention humans beings. The decline in health of the wildlife in the Great Lakes region is a testament to our duty to clean up the Great Lakes and keep them clean.
Every animals is vulnerable to pollutants, but some moreso than others. Amphibians, such as frogs, are especially at risk from pollution because they have thin skins and chemicals can pass through this barrier with ease. Animals that are higher in the food chain are exposed to even greater numbers of toxic chemicals due to their diets.
Heavy metals (like mercury and lead) and human-made organic chemicals (like pesticides) bioaccumulate as they move up the food chain, resulting in tumors, deformities, and death for many animals, including tadpoles and frogs, old lake trout, herring gulls, mallard ducks, Canadian geese, loons, cranes, eagles, and wolves.
Related references:
GLIN: Endangered Species in the Great Lakes Region
National Wildlife Federation (NWF): Effects Of Water Pollution On Wildlife
Environmental Education Resources (EE-Link): Great Lakes-Big Rivers Endangered Species
Thank you for your question!
Answered on June 19, 2001