Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/category/test/page/108/)
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Indigenous people in the United States and Canada are burdened with health problems linked to pollutants. But native foods, medicines, language, ceremonies and traditional farming, hunting and fishing are also jeopardized.
Mercury is more than just something fun to play with, according to this public service announcement from the Michigan Department of Community Health. The chemical gives off harmful fumes that can affect the central nervous system, respiratory system, and kidneys, according to health department officials. Prolonged exposure can lead to behavioral changes such as irritability, shyness, and nervousness, as well as tremors, problems with muscle coordination, loss of sensation, and difficulties with memory. “Breathing very high levels of mercury vapors can irritate the airways and lungs, causing difficulty breathing,” said Christina Bush, a State of Michigan toxicologist, “In severe cases, the lungs will start to fill with fluid, there may be nausea and vomiting, and the heart rate or blood pressure will increase. This has happened where people have intentionally heated items containing mercury and would not be typical of exposure that may occur after a mercury spill.”
This week Echo reporters asked the public and an expert to explain greenhouse gas.
Nearshore health is a reflection of positive land use.
The Dust Bowl poses important questions and National Parks provide important answers for the Great Lakes region.
The emerging threat of pharmaceuticals, everyday chemicals and personal care products in drinking water may be the most difficult that water treatment plants have faced.
The extremes of America’s culture of excess were on display this past weekend, with the madness of holiday shopping. But do people really need all that stuff? That’s the question some students at Michigan State University set out to answer. Earlier this year a group of them at the East Lansing campus decided to live a more minimal and sustainable lifestyle. They filmed the experience. The film and project, called Thrive With Less, started as a capstone for a documentary course.
The University of Michigan researcher’s Water Blues art show represents the beauty of the lakes and the melancholy produced by environmental degradation.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says dogs produce 10 million tons of feces annually.
When it isn’t picked up, it can pollute waterways and threaten public health.
U.S. based companies stymied from developing new energy sources in the Great Lakes region by Canadian authorities are looking for relief through the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to media reports. A wind company owned by a New York-based investment group is filing a claim for lost profits under NAFTA, Thestar.com reports. Windstream Energy LLC wants to develop a 300-megawatt wind project in eastern Lake Ontario. That project stalled after Canada’s Liberal government put a moratorium on offshore projects. Meanwhile, another American company says it will sue Canadian federal authorities under NAFTA for more than $250 million for Quebec’s moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, the Windsor Star reports.
