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Great Lakes Echo - Environmental news of the Great Lakes region

Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/tag/current-state/page/5/)

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Current State

Every Tuesday the Current State public affairs radio program on WKAR in East Lansing runs an environmental story in partnership with Great Lakes Echo. The stories also run on the Echo site and are archived here.

Climate

Volunteer monitors track Michigan’s 150 butterfly species

By WKAR Current State | May 12, 2015

The Michigan Butterfly Network will soon be sending volunteers out to survey the state’s butterflies.

Climate

Great Lakes Month in Review: drought, farming, climate change

By Guest Contributor | May 11, 2015

Current State discusses recent environmental stories with commentator Gary Wilson.

Climate

Michigan office prepares for health impacts of climate change

By Guest Contributor | April 23, 2015

The Michigan Department of Community Health is looking at how climate change could impact public health.

Wildlife

Piping plovers make comeback in the Great Lakes

By Guest Contributor | April 15, 2015

Once nearly extinct in the Great Lakes region, piping plovers are on the rebound.

Waste

MSU study raises doubts about biodegradable plastics

By Guest Contributor | April 9, 2015

New research from Michigan State University indicates that biodegradable plastics might not actually be breaking down in landfills any faster than other plastics.

Wildlife

Slimy microorganism increasing in northern Michigan lakes

By Guest Contributor | April 7, 2015

Nope, that’s not tapioca pudding in your lake; it’s zooplankton, a microorganism in inland lakes that produces slime and can clog water pipes.

Water

Great Lakes Month in Review: fights over Flint’s water, mercury limits before SCOTUS

By Gary Wilson | April 3, 2015

A look at this month’s biggest environmental stories with Great Lakes commentator Gary Wilson.

Wildlife

Seafood Summit explores future of Michigan aquaculture

By Guest Contributor | March 25, 2015

Michigan Sea Grant Director Jim Diana says Michigan could boost its seafood industry by investing in aquaculture.

Land

MSU study: fertilizers throw off nitrogen cycle

By Guest Contributor | March 23, 2015

They boost crops like corn but have some not so great side effects.

Climate

US scientists urge more research on climate engineering

By Guest Contributor | March 10, 2015

U.S. scientists are pushing for more research on climate engineering.

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About Great Lakes Echo

Environmental news of the Great Lakes region from the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University.

  • Henderson holding a swan
    From otters to butterflies: How Minnesota became a pioneer in nongame wildlife conservation

    By Kyrmyzy Turebayeva In the late 1970s, when most wildlife conservation programs in the United States focused almost exclusively on game species, a quiet but historic shift began in Minnesota. It was here that one of the nation’s first state programs dedicated to protecting so-called nongame wildlife emerged from butterflies and bats to bald eagles and river otters. That story is now told in detail by Carrol Henderson in his new book, “A National Legacy: Fifty Years of Nongame Wildlife Conservation in Minnesota."

  • Michigan’s water infrastructure sees improvements, work still needs to be done

    By Clara Lincolnhol The U.S. would need to invest nearly $3.4 trillion over the next 20 years to fix and update drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, says researchers from The Value of Water Campaign. Much of that infrastructure was built 40 to 50 years ago and shows its age. Michigan’s is no exception. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the state a D+ for its drinking water infrastructure, a D in storm water management and a C for its wastewater infrastructure. Funding is a major problem. Proposed data centers would put more stress on the infrastructure.

  • Mussels in a green net.
    Endangered spectaclecase mussels reintroduced into the Chippewa River

    By Ada Tussing To combat the population loss of spectaclecase mussels, researchers with both the Minnesota and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources released over 177 mussels into the Chippewa River in Northwest Wisconsin.

  • Michigan allocates $77 million to clean thousands of contaminated sites

    By Clara Lincolnhol Michigan is pouring $77 million into clean-up of contaminated abandoned real estate such as former factories. The director of the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy says the goal is to make the cleaned-up sites safe for housing, commercial developments and other uses.

  • Winter makes curved roads dangerous; researchers seek solutions

    By Eric Freedman Flashing light on warning signs near curves can slow drivers and reduce the odds of a crash during winter weather conditions, says a new study by Michigan State University engineers.

  • The cover of “Dead Moose on Isle Royale: Off Trail with the Citizen Scientists of the Wolf-Moose Project." The cover is moose antlers on the ground.
    Great Lakes books for your holiday gift list 

    By Eric Freedman   Looking for a holiday gift for a reader who loves the Great Lakes? Here are five prospects to consider – and what our reporters learned from interviewing their authors this year.

  • A side-by-side of the historic Portage Canal and modern Portage Canal from an aerial view.
    Restoration of historical site improves quality of life for Portage, Wisconsin residents

    By Joshua Kim Following the completion of segments 1 and 2 of the Portage Canal, local residents and visitors can use the historic site and its amenities following years of disrepair.

  • What herring gulls tell us about plastic pollution

    By Victoria Witke Christina Petalas, a doctoral student McGill University, studies herring gulls to learn about plastic pollution near the St. Lawrence River. Across two studies, she found plastic additives in every bird sampled, which could have human health consequences.

  • Scientists update geological map of northern Wisconsin, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula 

    By Kyrmyzy Turebayeva The U.S. Geological Survey has began large-scale low-level airplane flights over Michigan's Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin to obtain high-resolution data on subsurface mineral structures and bedrock composition. The data will be used to create two- and three-dimensional maps to better understand the geological structure at depths of about 10,000 feet.

  • ‘Refusal is insisting on your own terms’: Indigenous activism in the Midwest

    By Isabella Figueroa Nogueira “Indigenous Activism in the Midwest: Refusal, Resurgence and Resisting Settler Colonialism” explores how Dakota and Anishinaabe communities in Minnesota continue their relationships to the land and challenge dominant settler narratives about ownership, belonging and identity.

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