Water

Study projects steep Great Lakes water level drop if greenhouse gases remain unchecked

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By Haley Walker
Walkerh4@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 30, 2009

Great Lakes water levels could drop by up to two feet by the turn of the century as temperatures rise, according to a recent series of reports released by the Union of Concerned Scientists. The water decline is a response to global climate change, according to the report by the group of scientists and citizens that advocates for science-based solutions to environmental problems. Warming temperatures reduce ice cover and increase evaporation. Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are projected to have the greatest changes. “Less winter ice and warmer temperatures in the summer could mean a decrease of one to two feet in Great Lake levels by the end of the century,” said Melanie Fitzpatrick a climate scientist with the organization.

Echo

Energy Secretary Steven Chu promotes cap-and-trade bill in Cleveland

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(OH) Cleveland Plain Dealer – A Senate version of controversial and far-reaching federal climate-change legislation is expected Wednesday with initial hearings possible later in the week and throughout October. As passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in June, the so-called cap-and-trade law would remake American industry and change everyday life in ways that neither critics nor supporters have probably imagined. More

Waste

Schools promote waste-free lunches

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(IL) Chicago Tribune – In the lunchroom at Stowe Elementary School in Duluth, Minn., forlorn piles of half-eaten sandwiches and bruised bananas are transformed from trash to treasure. Instead of tossing their uneaten school lunch scraps in the garbage bin, Stowe students donate their leftover fruits and vegetables to the school’s worm compost. Items that aren’t as compost-friendly, such as breads and potatoes, are donated to area farmers, who feed the free and tasty slop to their pigs. “Knowing it won’t all be going into a landfill feels good,” said 10-year-old Bradley MacDougall. More

Energy

Raising ethanol levels in gas wouldn’t pay off

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(MI) The Detroit News – Ethanol has been discredited as the answer to America’s energy needs everywhere except in Washington. Congress is stubbornly sticking by the bankrupt theory that mandating more ethanol use will lessen the nation’s dependence on oil. More

Echo

Detroit has more vacant land than any city except New Orleans

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(MI) MLive – It’s become a cliche to compare Detroit to post-Katrina New Orleans, but here’s a valid point: Urban planners and academic researchers say Detroit has more vacant land than any city in the nation besides Nola. And the flood waters here show no sign of receding. More

Wildlife

Beekeepers take cues from busy insects

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(MI) Grand Rapids Press – Beekeepers  tend farm and backyard hives for the honey, to help pollinate gardens to earn cash and because they like bees. “Bees are so industrious. They work from sun up to sun down. It’s interesting to watch them go in and out of the hives and do their different jobs,” said businessman Chris Raphael, a Saugatuck resident who started beekeeping two years ago. More

Echo

From Science, Plenty of Cows but Little Profit

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(NY) The New York Times – Three years ago, a technological breakthrough gave dairy farmers the chance to bend a basic rule of nature: no longer would their cows have to give birth to equal numbers of female and male offspring. Instead, using a high-technology method to sort the sperm of dairy bulls, they could produce mostly female calves to be raised into profitable milk producers. Now the first cows bred with that technology, tens of thousands of them, are entering milking herds across the country – and the timing could hardly be worse. More

Echo

Study: Winter road salt pollutes Great Lakes streams

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By Rachael Gleason
Great Lakes Echo
rachaelkaygleason@gmail.com
Sept. 29, 2009

Winter road safety is adding salt pollution to Great Lakes streams, according to a recent government study. The U.S. Geological Survey examined approximately 100 streams in 19 northern states for road salt and other sources of chloride. Of the 52 streams tested in Great Lakes states, a quarter had chloride levels that exceeded federal standards designed to protect drinking water supplies. Levels higher than 250 milligrams per liter give water a salty taste, according to the study.

Echo

New tool from Canadian scientists predicts warmer Great Lakes water temperatures

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Jeff Gillies
jeffgillies@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 28, 2009

Great Lakes climate science is often stuck in the past. Studies show that all five lakes have warmed up over the past century. But they rarely predict how much the water will warm in the next one. A new tool from Canada could help buck that trend, warning policymakers of new threats from foreign organisms and other waterborne consequence of global climate change.

Energy

Carmakers fight hike in ethanol at gas pumps

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(MI) The Detroit News – A push by corn-producing states and alternative fuel proponents to increase federal rules boosting the amount of ethanol mixed into gasoline is being fought by automakers because it would be costly and could damage engines. By Dec. 1, the Environmental Protection Agency must decide whether to approve a request to increase the amount of ethanol that can be mixed with most gasoline sold at pumps to as much as 15 percent. More