Great Lakes

Climate change is already affecting the Great Lakes. One group is urging the Great Lakes states and Canadian provinces to coordinate their efforts to make the Great Lakes basin more resilient to those changes.Climate change contributed to the rapid rise in Great Lakes water levels a few years ago. Combined with more frequent and intense storms — also a result of climate change — they caused record flooding in 2017 and 2019 in some parts of the Great Lakes region. Homes and property were damaged.

The U.S. Coast Guard at Sault Ste. Marie said the end of the shipping seasons usually means launching more icebreaking missions. However, roughly 5% of the Great Lakes is currently covered with ice.

A CMU research team is studying why two species of fish populations are trending in nearly opposite directions – and what this says about changing environmental conditions in lakes.

The National Defense Authorization Act passed the U.S. Senate 83-11. But it's uncertain if President Biden will sign it due to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for military personnel being lifted.

The authority would identify distressed communities in the Great Lakes region and offer economic development opportunities and access to new grant funding.

The initiative is made up of communities, conservation groups and foundations in both the U.S. and Canada with the goal of protecting Lake Huron’s water quality and natural habitats.

After several delays caused by the pandemic, the Michigan Department of Natural Sources and tribal communities are nearing the end of negotiating the newest Great Lakes Consent Decree.

The executive director of the Great Lakes Cruise Association said the 2023 season will likely extend past the first week of October due to warmer conditions.

One commercial fishing operation in Huron County has stopped harvesting yellow perch in Saginaw Bay and is attributing it to walleye.

Retailer Meijer funding efforts to eliminate microplastics in the Great Lakes