Great Lakes Echo - Environmental news of the Great Lakes region

Great Lakes Echo (http://greatlakesecho.org/category/climate/)

Climate

This includes climate change and stories about extreme weather. The main menu further divides this category with tags for drought and cold.

ENVIRO JUSTICE DATA MAP: MiEJScreen is an online tool that maps how health and socioeconomic factors intersect with environmental contamination. Source: Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy

Michigan updates data sharing tool on environmental justice

By Elinor Epperson | August 20, 2024

By Elinor Epperson

Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has updated an online tool that maps which communities may be most susceptible to adverse effects from pollution. The department first released MiEJScreen as a draft in 2022, but released an updated version in early August after seeking public comment. It says it hopes the tool will make it easier for advocates, residents and government officials to understand how environmental contamination affects different populations in their community. The tool combines data about health, socioeconomic and environmental factors to determine which communities are at higher risk of adverse effects from pollution. The data reflect what residents have known for a while, Regina Strong said.

Arts & Scraps: Reusing materials to combat climate change

IMAGE: Deaf and hard-of hearing youth prepare seeds for a new community garden. Image courtesy of Jurmel Mitchell Sr.

Deaf and hard of hearing kids have a role in climate resilience

Green infrastructure job trainings aim to support growing field

Every summer, toxic algae blooms form on Lake Erie, posing a health risk to humans and animals. Image: National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science

Experts predict moderate Lake Erie toxic algae bloom

Climate

Heat waves are a sign of ‘creeping changes’ in climate, expert says

By Elinor Epperson | July 20, 2024

By Elinor Epperson

There’s no easy way to say it: The heat is only getting worse. Extreme heat events in the Great Lakes region will only become more frequent as climate change warms the oceans, lakes and air, a University of Michigan climate expert said. And the earlier that heat waves start each season, the more there may be in the months to come. Richard Rood is a professor emeritus at the University of Michigan Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering. He said extreme weather will change what feels “normal” for each season.

Climate

Reporting on climate change impacts on marginalized communities

By Wajeeha Kamal | May 2, 2024

Journalists, filmmakers and environmental advocacy groups examined the urgent need for the news media to evolve its approach to reporting environmental justice at a recent Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Philadelphia.

Climate

Unearthing climate change challenges along Delaware Bayshore

By Guest Contributor | April 19, 2024

New Jersey’s Delaware Bayshore isn’t called the road less traveled without reason.

Persistent rainfall, exacerbated by global warming, has increased the wetlands in this area of Cumberland County.

Climate

Climate change, other pollutants boost mercury’s Great Lakes health threat

By Kayla Nelsen | April 9, 2024

Mercury levels in the Great Lakes are increasing as temperatures warm and extreme weather becomes more frequent, according to research in Minnesota’s Marcell Experimental Forest.

Mercury is a global pollutant released into the atmosphere through fossil fuel burning. It is then deposited onto land and water.

Climate

Record low Great Lakes ice jump-starts Michigan’s severe weather season

By Clara Lincolnhol | March 21, 2024

The lack of ice on the Great Lakes could cause thunderstorms and tornadoes to occur earlier than usual in the region.

Michigan is expected to see more severe weather in April and May, said Paul Pastelok, a meteorologist for AccuWeather.

Climate

Are Great Lakes cities ready for climate migrants?

By Kayla Nelsen | March 18, 2024

A California woman on “The Daily Show” recently swapped her sandals for snowshoes after moving to Duluth to escape her state’s wildfires.

The Comedy Central show featured Duluth as a climate haven, an ideal place to live to avoid wildfires, droughts, hurricanes and extreme flooding.

Climate

Ontario anglers watch their ice fishing community melt. Is there hope?

By Daniel Schoenherr | March 5, 2024

At Lake Simcoe in southern Ontario, February has traditionally been the peak of ice fishing season.

But this year, the lake’s freezing cycle is in purgatory, continuing to fuel what many locals are calling Ontario’s worst ice fishing season in decades.

Climate

Dirty steelmaking unfairly threatens low-income communities

By Jada Vasser | December 22, 2023

Michigan residents and activists are pushing the auto and steel industries to buy cleaner, more sustainable steel to clean up pollution in the Detroit-Dearborn area.

Recently Industrious Labs, a climate advocacy group, gave guided tours of Detroit and Dearborn auto and steelmaking factories to try to convince automakers to switch from steel produced traditionally into sustainable, cleaner steel.

Climate

Great Lakes microclimate good for specialty crops

By Guest Contributor | November 9, 2023

While cornfields are abundant throughout the state, Michigan produces many more crops than just corn.

Specialty crops, which are fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, flowers and other horticulture crops, are abundant in the Great Lake state.

Climate

Changing climate changes colors

By Reese Carlson | October 4, 2023

Climate change means that the Great Lakes region’s trademark red, orange and yellow fall leaves will be more intense for a shorter period in the next decade.

The warming climate will also cause the leaves to change later in the season, scientists say.