Water

Miami’s Pangaea Explorations launches research journey into Great Lakes

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The summer, anyone from senior citizens to students can assist in hands-on research in the Great Lakes. Florida organization Pangaea Explorations launches its first expedition into the Great Lakes, to conduct research on plastic pollution in the Great Lakes. Currently sailing in Bermuda, the expedition yacht Sea Dragon will travel to Cape Cod, Massachusetts in late June to kick off the Great Lakes expedition. Throughout the course of the trip, there will be eight separate legs, where the different “citizen science” groups will switch off to assist in hands-on research focused primarily on plastics in the Great Lakes. The groups include undergraduate students, senior citizens, teachers and more.

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beach

Great Lakes drownings down over last year

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The number of Great Lakes drowning deaths are down from last year, possibly because of the colder spring. Twelve people have drowned in the Great Lakes since Jan. 1, eight less than this time last year, according to the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, an educational water safety group based in East Lansing, Mich. and Matteson, Ill. The record drownings in 2012 may have been due to unusually warm weather.

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Photo Friday: Minnesota lakes take their time “icing out”

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Some lakes in Minnesota are taking their time to thaw this spring, setting new “ice-out” records. Attributed to unusually cool spring temperatures, this satellite image shows lingering ice and white lake landscapes. The first photo was captured on May 12, 2013, when NASA’s Terra satellite passed over northern Minn. “Ice-out” is defined in this context as a lake being free of ice, but the definition often varies. Some define it based on ease of navigation, while others believe a lake has “iced-out” when it’s 90 percent free of ice, according to a report from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

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Comparing the states: Hazardous waste violations

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Indiana has the highest percentage of facilities with hazardous waste violations in 2012 among the Great Lakes states, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. New York has the lowest. The figures come from an EPA map that reports state compliance with regulations. The map’s dashboard allows users to choose different measures and different years. Here are the percentages of large facilities with new hazardous waste violations for each state:

Indiana: 15 percent of 567 large facilities.

Recreation

“Sunken Treasure”: Documentary explores Great Lakes shipwrecks, promotes respectful diving

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With hundreds of shipwrecks scattered across the bottom of the Great Lakes, divers have access to an unrivaled underwater playground. The freshwater environment lends itself to preserving shipwrecks so well, some ships look ready to board. Divers tempted to swipe an artifact for their mantle or crank a wheel and pretend to sail away could be fined or even imprisoned. A recent documentary aims to educate those with misguided intentions before it gets that far. “Sunken Treasure: Preserving Michigan’s Shipwrecks” was recently released by the Michigan Underwater Preserve Council to foster respect of Great Lakes shipwrecks and preserve the fragile ecosystems that surround them.

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Mr. Great Lakes: Ice, energy and transportation

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Mr. Great Lakes (Jeff Kart) reports from Bay City, Michigan’s Delta College Q-90.1 FM.  

 

This week Kart discusses the Greenland ice sheet, Delta College energy forums and transportation improvements in Bay City. Text at Mr Great Lakes

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Watch Great Lakes cities grow (and nature disappear) from space

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Google Earth has released a cache of time lapsed images that depict the Earth’s changes over the past 28 years. Users can watch the sprawl over time of Great Lakes cities such as Detroit, Toronto, Chicago, Milwaukee and other places by typing locations in the search field. The release represents “the most comprehensive picture of our changing planet ever made available to the public,” according to the website’s official blog. Users can witness the deforestation of the Amazon and glacial retreats in Alaska. The images were collected as part of a joint mission between the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA.

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Flash Point: Shawn Malone on capturing northern Michigan’s night skies

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Shawn Malone, owner of Lake Superior Photo, describes the process behind North Country Dreamland as a combination of “luck and persistence.”

Malone is a veteran photographer, who focuses on shooting images of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the Lake Superior Watershed. This is her first time-lapse compilation. It’s put together with more than 10,000 photo frames and 33 northern Michigan night sky events last year. These night skyscapes include multiple northern lights scenes, meteor showers, nebulae, planets, constellations, the Milky Way and comets. Many of them were taken over both Lake Superior and Lake Michigan.