Echo

Students use social media to gather climate change information

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A group of Central Michigan University students is using social media to gather information on climate change and periodic natural events, in the Great Lakes region. Tom Rohrer, the director of the Great Lakes Institute for Sustainable Systems at Central Michigan University,  and his students created a Facebook page called  “Climate Change in the Great Lakes Basin.”  On the page students post studies, articles, pictures and other observation, which address changing weather patterns. The page is also open for the public to post  their observations, creating a free and vast collection of climate change information. The project stems from a CMU course taught by Rohrer on building sustainability. The idea came during a class discussion on how to influence people do to the right thing for the environment, he said.

Recreation

Hunting for a hunting spot? There’s an app for that

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Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources upgraded its Mi-HUNT computer app for the 2012 fall deer hunting season. Users will be able to view 7 million acres of public hunting lands and print hunting maps.

The other improvements include detailed information and printable maps of Hunting Access Program lands and state game and wildlife areas, and capacity to load that information directly into the user’s personal GPS.

Echo

State bird capital is dead duck

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Iosco County would become tMichigan’s birding capital under a legislative proposal that’s a dead duck — at least for this year.

The bill stems from work that an Oscoda woman did with the sponsor, Sen. John Moolenaar, R-Midland, to make Iosco County a destination for bird watching tourism.

Echo

Chicago River haunted by Asian carp and ghosts?

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Terrifying events will conspire on the Chicago River this week, and it’s not just the launching of the latest search for Asian carp. Starting today, the company Living Social is taking customers on haunted kayaking tours. During the night, paddlers will make their way along the Chicago River, pausing to hear tales of  “ghost, haunting, and other river — borne horrors,”  according to the event brief. Living Social’s website warns, “there may be some actual scream-inducing moments along the way.”

While kayakers listen to frightening river tales, scientists will search for a potentially alarming truth. They’re looking for Asian carp, also starting today and continuing through Sunday, according to the Associated Press.

Echo

Interactive map shows cities’ drinking water sources

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An interactive map shows users where different communities draw their drinking water. It works by zooming in on selected areas whereby clicking on a city shows descriptions of its water sources. For example, Lansing, Mich. draws much of its water from 124 wells tapping an underground aquifer. Fort Wayne, Ind.

Echo

Nature preserve in northern Michigan to more than double

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The Bete Grise Preserve in Keweenaw County, Mich., will more than double by adding approximately 1,475 acres, according to the Healing Our Waters Great Lakes Coalition, an association of environmental groups. A $1.7 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration made the expansion possible, according to the coalition’s press release. “The grant protects one of the highest quality dune and wetland complexes in the upper Great Lakes…”

The preserve is spectacular, said Evan McDonald, executive director of the Keweenaw Land Trust, a conservation non-profit and a partner on the project. “Places like Bete Grise, with these really healthy, extensive coastal wetland systems are really important ecologically,” McDonald said. “They’re a breeding and nursery ground for young fish, which attracts birds that feed on young fish.

Water

Scientists collaborate to understand warming lakes

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Have the Great Lakes seemed a little less chilly in the past few years? It’s probably because the Great Lakes, like 95 percent of the world’s lakes, are warming. According to National Geographic, researchers from all over are trying to understand the repercussions of increasing lake temperatures.  The Global Lake Temperature Collaboration is a network of researchers, including Great Lakes scientists, collecting data about lakes worldwide. The groups first meeting this summer allowed participants to share, analyze and compile findings.

Echo

FEMA floodplain maps called into question

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After the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released floodplain maps, effective April 17, homeowners started receiving letters from their lenders giving them 45 days to buy additional insurance because they were in a flood zone.

Floodplain maps for counties statewide were determined by FEMA, but officials in Gladwin and Crawford counties were concerned about the accuracy and impact of the maps.

Echo

Algae fighters get $16 million boost

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Canadian officials Tuesday announced a $16 million investment to understand and control algae in the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Nutrient Initiative will focus on Lake Erie which is particularly vulnerable to toxic and nuisance algae. That’s a lot of money to address excessive phosphorus discharges from farming and sewers. Is it enough? To get a sense of the challenge, last week the Columbus Dispatch reported  if 80 percent of the phosphorus that drains into Ohio’s Grand Lake were cut, it still would take 20 to 40 years to clear the water.