Echo

Carp creep

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Here’s a nifty animated graphic that plots the spread of Asian carp.

It was produced by the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Wildlife Federation.

Land

Book explores Detroit’s unreal estate

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What do you do with urban territory that has fallen out of the literal economy?

A University of Michigan architecture professor suggests community gardens flourishing in empty lots, artists using fire-damaged buildings as palettes and neighborhood fairs in alleys.

Echo

Illinois study shows perennial biofuels give off less nitrogen

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Perennial crops like the tallgrass miscanthus can be turned into ethanol like corn, but give off less nitrogen into the atmosphere, according to a University of Illinois study. Limiting nitrogen is important because it can produce nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that furthers global warming. And nitrate can contaminate drinking sources and leach into lakes where it contributes to lethal dead zones for fish life. Ethanol is added to gasoline to reduce dependence on the fossil fuels that contribute to global warming. But it’s counterproductive to produce ethanol in a way that makes yet another powerful greenhouse gas – nitrous oxide.

Echo

Great Lakes pizzas raise $6,000 for litter reduction, Belle Isle restoration

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DETROIT — Which Great Lake is the most popular? Going strictly by pizza preference, it appears to be Huron and Michigan. They were marginally the most-ordered pizzas in a promotion that raised $6,000 for the Alliance for the Great Lakes. “They were all pretty close,” said Wesley Pikula, vice president of operations at Buddy’s. “They were within about twenty pies of each other.”

Last year, Echo reported that the popular Michigan pizza chain Buddy’s Pizza launched its Great Lakes Pizza Collection with a pledge.

Echo

Where’s the Concern? Week One

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Each week, Great Lakes Echo features a photo story about a different Area of Concern designated by the U.S. or Canadian governments in the Great Lakes basin.

Guess where the area is located, based on the description of the site.

Are these really the best ski resorts in the Midwest?

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The Midwest’s four best ski resorts are in Great Lakes states, according to Outside Magazine. Here are the publication’s picks:

 

Best Powder: Mount Bohemia, Michigan

Best Terrain Park: Nub’s Nob, Michigan

Best Nightlife: Afton Alps, Minnesota

Best Escape: Devil’s Head Resort, Wisconsin

You can check out Outside’s reasoning. But we’re willing to bet there may be some disagreement out there. How about it?  

 

 

 

Water

The Grand Calumet’s road to recovery

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Great Lakes Echo looked at the toxic brew that Indiana’s Grand Calumet River carries to Lake Michigan yesterday.

Today: A look at the multi-million dollar investment in its recovery.

It’s an investment not only in the river but in the near shore ecosystem of Lake Michigan.

Climate

When in Drought: Satellites show low Great Lakes groundwater

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The drought plaguing the country continues to sap the groundwater and soil water of the Great Lakes region, according to new NASA satellite data. The two maps, constructed using data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites, show low near-surface and subterranean water levels across the region between January 8 and 14, 2013. These satellites have been used to examine surface soil and ground water levels since they were launched in 2002. While not as low as some areas of the southeast or west, much of the region remains below the 1948-2009 average. Average levels are denoted by white space on the maps, while above-average is blue and below-average appears red.