Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/author/great-lakes-echo/page/7/)
Most people are aware of the “sexy” greenhouse gas CO-2. Fewer know of its co-culprit nitrous oxide. The third-largest greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide is released in soil during a natural process. However, the increased use of nitrogen fertilizer in agriculture has resulted in harmful nitrous oxide emissions.
Elementary students from mid-Michigan are lobbying for one of three candidates proposed for designation as the state amphibian.
Due to their locations away from city lights and often near water, dark sky parks offer enhanced opportunities to see, study, and enjoy the night sky and everything in it.
The Leelanau School – an experiential boarding high school for kids with learning differences in Glen Arbor, Mich. – braved the spring chill on a field trip with the Inland Seas Education Center. Inland Seas is a Suttons Bay, Mich., non-profit organization that helps people of all ages experience the science and spirit of the Great Lakes through hands-on learning aboard a traditionally rigged tall ship schooner. Image: Inland Seas Education Center. Have a photo to submit for our Photo Friday series? Send it to us on Facebook or Twitter, or in an email to greatlakesecho@gmail.com.
Few parents will produce offspring as rare as those of Eckert and Viper.
The former director of Michigan’s Office of the Great Lakes has been appointed to a board that advises the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency how to lower the cost of environmental protection. G. Tracy Mehan, now a principal with the Cadmus Group Inc., was recently appointed to EPA’s Environmental Financial Advisory Board. The panel also provides EPA with advice on increasing investments in environmental and public health protection. Mehan was director of Michigan’s Office of the Great Lakes from 1993 to 2001. As EPA’s assistant administrator for water from 2001 to 2003, he directed programs that administered the Safe Drinking water Act and Clean Water Act.
We asked Great Lakes photographers to send us some of their favorite or toughest Great Lakes shots. Photographer and artist Laura Miller sent us these photos. Late January 2014 has been particularly difficult along the Maumee River in Ohio because of the amount of snow and rain we received with near-record precipitation. These photos of an ice jam reflect the challenge of the river environment with the next challenge being flooding in the spring. Although this part of the river had an ice jam, farther upstream the water was flowing freely as the ice had been swept away. The Maumee River is the largest Great Lakes watershed and feeds into Lake Erie. There is a wonderful park system that follows the river providing abundant opportunities to enjoy the river. Getting to the river isn’t the easiest during the winter months. The most difficult aspect of this photo adventure was knowing where the river bank ended and the river began. You can’t help but respect the power and beauty of the ice when you’re actually on the banks of the river. As you get closer to the water’s edge, you can easily go through the ice not knowing there is water flowing underneath.
A new conservative group is hoping to open up the conversation about renewable energy. The Michigan Conservative Energy Forum is working to increase the state’s investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy programs.
This August photographer Ken Scott captured this panorama, highlighting a storm front moving over Lake Michigan, near Northport, Mich. The photo was taken just before sunset, showing colorful clouds and a low hanging sun. This photo was featured on Earth Science Picture of the Day.
This photo was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA’s Aqua satellite from the International Space Station. It highlights a late-summer “whiting event” visible across Lake Ontario. Whiting events are caused by changes in the water’s temperature, which leads to increased photosynthesis by phytoplankton and other microscopic marine life. That photosynthesis reduces the amount of carbon dioxide in the water, which changes the water’s acidity. Change in acidity and temperature then allows fine particles of calcium carbonate to form in the water column, and it’s these particles that cause the characteristic lightening, or “whiting,” of the water’s color.