Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/tag/catch-of-the-day/page/45/)
Mr. Great Lakes (Jeff Kart) reports from Bay City, Michigan’s Delta College Q-90.1 FM. Climate Action For Michigan, A Response To Great Lakes Debris Mr Great Lakes by Great Lakes Echo
This week, Kart discusses the Climate Action Plan and debris in the Great Lakes. Text at Mr. Great Lakes
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.
Diana Popp Rossiter took this image in early June during a walk through Lyle Park in Bridgeport Township, about six miles southeast of Saginaw. The pedestrian trail starts at a restored historic bridge across the Cass River in downtown Bridgeport and extends through Lyle Park which runs along side the Cass River. “Running alongside the trail is a railroad track and between the tracks and trail is a low area of land,” Popp Rossiter writes. “That low area of land is filled with trash that has been dumped by polluters over the years and also trash that gets deposited there every year by the flood waters. “This trash includes seven tires that are usually sitting there with water in them serving as a mosquito breeding source.”
For years, pregnant women have been advised to stay away from eating fish because of their mercury content. But last week’s announcement by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tweaked that advice, making it clear that it is healthy to eat fish without troublesome mercury levels. Fish that are packed with protein and omega-3 fatty acids make an extremely healthy meal for the mother and child, as long as it is low in mercury, EPA, FDA and Michigan Department of Community Health officials now officially advise. State and federal health authorities have long advised that eating too many fish meals containing mercury can damage the brain, nervous system and kidneys, and even harm the development of a pregnant woman’s fetus. This is the first time that eating a minimum amount of low mercury fish has been promoted as a guideline when announcing new draft mercury standards.
Duluth, Minn., got the nod in Outside Magazine’s Best Town contest. It beat out Provo, Utah, with 55 percent of the vote in the final round. Do you agree? Is Duluth the best town in the Great Lakes states, let alone the U.S.? To get to the final showdown, in head to head competition Duluth beat out Minneapolis, Minn.; La Crosse, Wis.; Athens, Ohio; Columbia, Missouri.
Anglers in a recent fishing derby on Michigan’s Pine River got news far better than pulling in the largest fish. The Environmental Protection Agency recently reported that the fish they sought are much cleaner of DDT than when the competition began 15 years ago. The concentration of the now banned pesticide in fish near the site of the Velsicol chemical manufacturing plant dropped by as much as 98 percent after a multi-million dollar cleanup of polluted river sediment from 2000 to 2006, the EPA said. Tempering the good news is that the fish were so contaminated then that even after the dramatic drop the Michigan Department of Community Health still advises not to eat fish downriver of the site. The contest is strictly catch and release.
The longest period of ice cover in the Great Lakes officially ended on June 6 — much to the relief of everyone who suffered post-traumatic stress from last year’s harsh winter. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA] recently released a year’s worth of Great Lakes surface temperatures. The animation at right shows ice cover and temperature for one day each month of the year. The one below shows the same information for every day of the year. In the 40 years of collecting data there hasn’t been ice cover that has lasted this long, said Anne Clites, physical scientist for the NOAA.
Here’s what Great Lakes Echo reader Dan Slider has to say about capturing this image in late May:
Our backyard slopes down to the Red Cedar River in Williamston (Mich.) When our border terrier mix, Roari, and I started our usual evening stroll, we heard something rustling in the garden bed behind us and discovered this beautiful turtle with a glossy green shell. The terrier kept a curious eye on the turtle while I ran back into the house for my camera. My wife looked up Michigan turtles online and identified it as a map turtle. A week later, a neighbor knocked on my door to tell me there was a large turtle laying eggs by the curb down the street. He wondered if it could be the same turtle I had seen.
The Michigan Recycling Coalition, has launched a state-wide recycling campaign, Recycle, MI, to increase recycling awareness and practices. The campaign is to help residents and businesses reduce waste, according to a press release. It encourages people to start recycling at their homes and work places, volunteer at recycling events or facilities and distribute information about recycling in their town, the campaign’s website explains. Recycle, MI has been promoted on radio stations that began this spring mostly in southeast Michigan and will continue in different regions throughout the summer, said Kerrin O’Brien, executive director of the group. “We really saw a need to promote recycling across the state – to unite Michiganders under this logo and message,” she said.
Drain Commissioner On Clean Water Challenges, Opportunities WKAR by Great Lakes Echo
Pat Lindemann has served as the Drain Commissioner of Ingham County for 21 years. He’s a Lansing native who’s spent his entire life in the area. As Drain Commissioner, Lindemann’s responsible for the operation of Ingham County storm drains and related issues including lake levels and soil erosion. Lindemann has earned a reputation as an environmental advocate. That’s put him at odds with developers, entrepreneurs and municipal officials eagerly pursuing business development.