Columnist John Hartig says the next generation of environmental problems include sprawl, nonpoint source pollution, toxic substances, habitat loss, exotic species and global warming.

Have you noticed an interesting bit of Great Lakes news we’ve missed? Tell us.
It could be a link to an article you found elsewhere, a new scientific finding or anything at all related to the basin you think would make a good item for a Catch of the Day blog post.
Great Lakes Echo also accepts submissions of guest columns.

Jeff Kart has an item over at treehugger about pelicans scarfing down Asian carp.
Apparently there are a lot more pelicans hanging around Illinois rivers since the carp invaded those streams.
These pictures on the Illinois birder’s forum certainly indicate pelican power is fueled by crunching carp.
Can pelicans be the saviors of the Great Lakes ecosystem if the carp breach the electric barrier at Chicago?
Kart, who also writes the popular mudpuppy blog, muses: “Are lots of pelicans worse or better than lots of Asian carp? Will the pelicans eat the carp, …

Forty years ago, the Detroit River and western Lake Erie were severely polluted and their ecosystems were failing.

Since then water quality has improved, wildlife has recovered and ecotourism is on the rise.

By John Hartig
1940s
The Detroit River experienced massive winter duck kills due to oil pollution in the 1940s and 1950s when tens of thousands of waterfowl would die at a time.
From 1946-1948, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare estimated that 5.9 million gallons of oil and other petroleum products were released untreated into the Detroit and Rouge rivers each year.
It is generally accepted that one gallon of oil is enough to pollute one million gallons of water.
That means that there was enough oil being discharged into the Detroit and …

Great Lakes Echo accepts submissions from guest writers (and videographers, photographers or podcast producers) who wish to contribute content to the site. The submitted content is published at the discretion of the site’s editors. If Echo chooses to publish your submission, an Echo site editor will contact you about formatting the work for the site.
To submit content to Great Lakes Echo, email Echo editor Dave Poulson at: poulsondavid@gmail.com
Here are some general guidelines to consider when preparing your work for submission:
Writing for the Web
Online readers expect brevity. They also appreciate writers …

Feral pigs are an increasing environmental problem in the Great Lakes region. They can dig up ground a foot or more deep, destroy crops and carry diseases that infect domestic livestock.

Michigan officials are crafting an environmental justice policy to give minority and low-income communities a greater voice in environmental decisions.

The Environmental Protection Agency encouraged the state to create the plan in the wake of two unsuccessful lawsuits. The public has until April 9 to comment on the plan.

A month of satellite images of Lake Erie shows a dramatic transformation.

Check out this series of images that starts with an ice-covered lake that quickly cracks apart.

As the days progress you can see the annual spring mixing of fine-grained mud that is stirred from the lake bottom and suspended in the water column.

A  report recently broadcast by the University of Michigan Radio Consortium’s Environment Report reminded me yet again of the tightrope parents walk trying to ensure their kids’ health.
It sometimes seems that the very things we do to keep ourselves and our children safe and free from disease end up hurting them.
This report connected the use of “personal care products” while pregnant with an increase in ADHD. Researchers with the Mount Sinai Children’s Environmental Health Study concluded “behavioral domains adversely associated with prenatal exposure to phthalates are commonly found to be …