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Great Lakes
1.
Great Lakes Information Network
The Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN) is a partnership that provides one place online for people to find information relating to the binational Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region of North America. GLIN offers a wealth of data and information about the region’s environment, economy, tourism, education and demographics.
The Great Lakes
What's New | Overview | General Resources
Agencies & Organizations | Research
What's New
Great Lakes observation system in the works
The Ashland Daily Press (10/22)
Over the next 12 months the Great Lakes Commission will coordinate an integrated Great Lakes Observing System.
Water flea meeting set
Ironwood Daily Globe (10/22)
An informational meeting on spiny water fleas in the Gile Flowage has been scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. at the Iron County Courthouse.
Muskegon leaders get credit for improving lake's state
The Muskegon Chronicle (10/22)
Cleanups often begin sooner and cost less because of local officials like Norm Ullman, said David Ullrich, executive director of the Great Lakes Cities Initiative.
Man survives plunge over Niagara Falls
CNN (10/21)
A man survived a plunge over Niagara Falls with only the clothes on his back, witnesses said, the first person known to have done it without safety devices and lived.
New contaminants in the lakes?
Great Lakes Radio Consortium (10/20)
The U.S. EPA and Canada are launching studies to look at emerging contaminants, a new class of chemicals that is being found in water and fish of the Great Lakes.
COMMENTARY: Great Lakes need protection from foreign ship water, species
Detroit Free Press (10/20)
By stopping the introduction of invasive species through ballast water tanks, one of the greatest threats to the U.S. waters and ecosystems can be greatly reduced.
Search GLIN for more news items about
Overview
The Great Lakes -- Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario -- and their connecting channels form the largest fresh surface water system on earth. If you stood on the moon, you could see the lakes and recognize the familiar wolf head shape of Lake Superior, or the mitten bounded by lakes Michigan, Huron and Erie. Covering more than 94,000 square miles and draining more than twice as much land, these Freshwater Seas hold an estimated 6 quadrillion gallons of water, about one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water supply and nine-tenths of the U.S. supply. Spread evenly across the contiguous 48 states, the lakes' water would be about 9.5 feet deep.
The channels that connect the Great Lakes are an important part of the system. The St. Marys River is the northernmost of these, a 60-mile waterway flowing from Lake Superior down to Lake Huron. At the St. Marys rapids, the Soo Locks bypass the rough waters, providing safe transport for ships. The St. Clair and Detroit rivers, and Lake St. Clair between them, form an 89-mile long channel connecting Lake Huron with Lake Erie. The 35-mile Niagara River links lakes Erie and Ontario, and sends approximately 50,000 to 100,000 cubic feet of water per second over Niagara Falls; the manmade Welland Canal also links the two lakes, providing a detour around the falls. From Lake Ontario, the water from the Great Lakes flows through the St. Lawrence River all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,000 miles away.
This system greatly affects our way of life, as well as all aspects of the natural environment, from weather and climate, to wildlife and habitat. Yet for all their size and power, the Great Lakes are fragile. In the past, this fragile nature wasn't recognized, and the lakes were mistreated for economic gain, placing the ecosystem under tremendous stress from our activities. Today, we understand that our health and our children's inheritance depend on our collective efforts to wisely manage our complex ecosystem.
General Resources
TEACH Great Lakes: Introduction
What and where are the Great Lakes? This basic tutorial brings the lakes alive through an array of facts, maps and photos.
Biodiversity Portrait of the St. Lawrence
Green Lane, Environment Canada
Presents the current knowledge base of the river's ecological and biological diversity in atlas form.
Great Lakes Atlas
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
This Environmental Atlas and Resource Book is an excellent resource on the Great Lakes, including physical characteristics, natural processes, people, concerns, joint management and new directions (mirrored on Environment Canada's site).
Great Lakes Atlas
Environment Canada
This Environmental Atlas and Resource Book is an excellent resource on the Great Lakes, including physical characteristics, natural processes, people, concerns, joint management and new directions (mirrored on the U.S. EPA site).
Great Lakes Sea Grant Network
A network of Sea Grant colleges and programs working in partnership with government and the private sector to meet the changing needs of Americans living in the Great Lakes region.
Great Lakes Surface Environmental Analysis
NOAA, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL)
A map using NOAA satellite data to show recent water temperatures of the Great Lakes.
Office of the Great Lakes Activity Report
State of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
The Office of the Great Lakes produces a monthly electronic Activity Report highlighting events, activities, and updates on the status of programs and issues affecting environmental protection, natural resource management, transportation, and recreation on the Great Lakes.
Research
Current Research Projects
Michigan Sea Grant
Final Report on the Protection of the Waters of the Great Lakes
International Joint Commission
This report provides a blueprint for protecting the waters of the Great Lakes Basin from the potential impacts of water removals and consumptive uses.
Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research
University of Windsor
The Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER) is a consortium of researchers at the University of Windsor. Established in 1981, the institute's research is directed toward the understanding, restoration, rehabilitation and protection of strategic ecological systems in the Great Lakes region.
Great Lakes Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
The U.S. Geological Survey's Great Lakes Science Center was founded in 1927 and continues to provide scientific information for the sound management of Great Lakes fish populations and other important natural resources in the basin.
Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Research Inventory
International Joint Commission
An Internet-based, searchable database created as a tool to collect and disseminate information on research programs relevant to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
National Water Research Institute (NWRI)
Environment Canada / Environnement Canada
NWRI, Canada's largest freshwater research establishment, conducts a comprehensive program of research and development in the aquatic sciences, in partnership with the Canadian and international science communities. NWRI research provides a sound basis for actions to sustain our natural resources and freshwater ecosystems.
Read and share Great Lakes research findings
International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR)
New resources to promote Great Lakes research.
Tenth Biennial Report of Great Lakes Water Quality
International Joint Commission
Released in July 2000, this report discusses the current threats to the Great Lakes ecosystem, such as contaminated sportsfish, air toxics, and urbanization, and concludes with actions that the U.S. and Canadian governments must take in order to comply with the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1978.
The Great Lakes Geographer
University of Western Ontario, Geography Department
Since 1967, this peer-reviewed journal has acted as a forum for publishing research about the science and biology of the Great Lakes and related social and economic issues. View the current issue online!
The Large Lakes Observatory
University of Minnesota - Duluth
Located on the Duluth Campus of the university of Minnesota, the Large Lakes Observatory (LLO) is the only institute in the country dedicated to the study of large lakes world wide. The LLO focuses on the global implications of investigation in the areas of aquatic chemistry, circulation dynamics, geochemistry, acoustic remote sensing, plankton dynamics, sedimentology and paleoclimatology.
Upper Lakes Environmental Research Network (ULERN)
A unique coalition of researchers, resource managers and educators in natural resources and environmental fields, ULERN facilitates collaborative aquatic, terrestrial and atmospheric research throughout the upper Great Lakes basin.
Water on the Web
University of Minnesota/ National Science Foundation (NSF)
Water on the Web (WOW) offers unique opportunities for high school and first year college students to learn basic science through hands-on science activities, in the lab and in the field, and by working with state-of-the-art technologies accessible through a free web site.
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