Climate

Photo Friday: Ice atop Lake Erie

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When last week’s snowstorm and cold spell made its way through the Great Lakes, nearly 90 percent of Lake Erie froze over, according to the NASA Earth Observatory. The colorized picture above shows ice (pale blue) and snow (blue-green) formed on top of the lake. A report by Jeff Masters, director of meteorology at Wunderground.com, showed that these high levels of ice coverage had not been seen on the Great Lakes since January 1994.

Climate

Ice forming along Chicago River

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The Chicago River just west of where it enters Lake Michigan with what is known as  brash ice, floating fragments of ice usually less than two meters across. Image: Greg Monahan

Land

Why Small Parks Matter

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Ask natural scientists why small parks matter and you’ll hear about habitats, biodiversity, carbon sequestration and buffer zones between developments. Ask the same question to social scientists and you’ll hear about maintaining human connections with nature, centers of community concern, neighborhood identity and healthy outdoor activities. Small parks can even serve a public policy purpose as a political rallying point. That happened last year in Turkey when government plans to develop 9-acre Taksim Gezi Park — one of Istanbul’s smallest parks and among the few remaining green spaces in the city’s BeyoÄŸlu district— triggered sit-ins and national demonstrations. From a humanist as well as scientific perspective, poet-environmental activist Wendell Berry has written that we need not cherish just the great public wildernesses” but small ones as well.

Waste

Big Ten’s Eco Efforts: University of Michigan

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In the spirit of our “Green Gridirons” series (but just in case college football wasn’t your thing), the “Big Ten’s Eco Efforts” series highlights creative off-the-field sustainability efforts. In January, the University of Michigan launched an online certification program to promote sustainable behaviors and culture. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to join the Planet Blue Ambassadors by completing brief modules about energy, food, waste, water and community. “Ambassadors earn points per sustainable pledge they complete on their dashboard and earn badges the more pledges they complete,” said Dana Elger, media relations representative at the Office of Public Affairs. “The program is designed to educate the campus on the various ways they can assist in creating a culture of sustainability and motivate them to act.

Water

Clean, Green Breweries: Short’s Brewing Co.

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The abundant freshwater of the Great Lakes region is increasingly used for craft beer brewing. Breweries compete for customers with an eclectic array of beers and a raft of sustainable efforts. Some companies recycle used grain, others use recycled packaging. Some run delivery trucks on vegetable oil or harness wind and solar power. Some even donate proceeds to watershed projects.

Water

Mr. Great Lakes: Algae pics, Clean Energy Roadmap and Asian carp comments

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Mr. Great Lakes (Jeff Kart) reports from Bay City, Michigan’s Delta College Q-90.1 FM.  
Jan. 10, 2014 – Mr. Great Lakes (Jeff Kart) – Friday EDITION – Q-90.1 FM Delta College Public Radio by jeffkart

This week, Kart discusses a project to gather algae photos, Michigan’s Clean Energy Manufacturing Roadmap project and a study about Asian carp. Text at Mr. Great Lakes

Climate

Photo Friday: Warm Great Lakes clash with frigid air to produce steam fog

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This color-enhanced picture from the NASA Earth Observatory shows how the cold air moving across warmer waters of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior during this week’s arctic storm transformed water vapor into steam fog. NASA says one of its satellites on  Jan. 6 captured the data used here to illustrate the difference between snow (bright orange), water clouds (white), and mixed clouds (peach). Here’s what steam fog looked like near Chicago and from the ground view.

Climate

Snowy mitten

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Take a look at the NASA Earth Observatory’s remarkable photo of the gigantic snowstorm this week that affected all of the Great Lakes region, plus many other states.