Echo

PSA: Mercury – It’s in the fish

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Mercury has found its way not only into our households, but also into our aquatic environment, according to this public service announcement from the Michigan Department of Community Health. “A person’s susceptibility to being harmed by the mercury in fish depends on their age, current health status, genetics, and chemical exposure history,” said Christina Bush, a health department toxicologist. “Given this complex set of factors, it is not known how much mercury it would take to harm any given individual. MDCH issues Fish Consumption Guidelines to help people choose fish that are low in mercury and safer for consumption by everyone, including pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and young children.” The state hosts a website where these guidelines are available.

Water

Got art? We need it.

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You might be aware of Great Lakes Echo’s end-of-the-week series, “Photo Friday.” We want your help to make it better! Each week, we post a picture of an environmental scene or event. It can be anything from the sky to the dirt and anything in between. Sometimes these photos come from us, sometimes they come from organizations, and sometimes they come from our readers. The one you see on this story was taken by Tim Trombley up in Lake Superior.

Wildlife

Finding a balance in Lake Huron’s fishery

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About a decade ago, Lake Huron’s fishing was not very abundant because of a steep decline in fish numbers. To see how the lake is doing now, Current State’s Melissa Benmark spoke with David Fielder, Fisheries Research Biologist for the Department of Natural Resources and a doctoral student at Michigan State University. Fielder explained that the decline ten years ago was due to ecological changes after the invasion of zebra mussels, quagga mussels and a higher predator abundance.

Echo

Transparency wouldn’t satisfy Joe Rossi, how about you?

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Commentary
Many reporters of my generation went into journalism because of the Watergate scandal. Holding public officials accountable — public service journalism – was the attraction then. So, too, were Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman in All the president’s men, the movie version of that story. Me? I was more of a Lou Grant kind of guy.

Waste

Michigan seeks to expand use of coal ash

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For at least the past decade, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has sought comprehensive regulations on reusing industrial byproducts like coal ash, the material generated from burning coal for electricity, as an alternative to sending it to landfills.

The “beneficial use” bills, which recently passed the state House, would formally regulate the use of over a dozen forms of industrial byproducts across a variety of sectors, including construction fill and on agricultural land.

Water

Month in review: Carp and Waukesha

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At the end of each month, we check in with Echo commentator Gary Wilson for updates on environmental stories from around the Basin. Click on the audio clip above for today’s Great Lakes Month in Review which discusses efforts to keep Asian carp and Waukesha, Wis.,  out of Lake Michigan. This segment is produced as part of a partnership with  WKAR’s Current State public affairs program. More radio news about the Great Lakes environment can be found on Current State every Tuesday as part of our partnership.

Water

Photo Friday: Kitch-iti-kipi spring

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Lake, brown and brook trout are found in the 45 degree Kitch-iti-kipi spring at Palms Book State Park in Manistique, Mich. The water moves through porous sandstone and is discharged into a pond at 10,000 gallons a minute. Visitors can watch the roiling of the clean sands some 40 feet below from a viewing raft. “It’s a fascinating ever-changing floor,” said Peggy Riemer, who captured these images last October. She recently posted similar images and information on NASA’s Earth Science Picture of the Day.

Climate

Wisconsin scientists unveil climate change narratives for 2070

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Will it take a disaster to respond to climate change?

A group of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers on Wednesday released a series of detailed science-based scenarios envisioning life in 2070 in the Madison area’s Yahara Watershed.

The idea is to help people envision the effects of climate change before it worsens.