The Great Lakes may be drying up

[xchrom]

http://grist.org/list/the-great-lakes-may-be-drying-up/

?w=470&h=265&crop=1

On Earth, cycles are the norm. Tides, carbon, water, life — they ebb and flow. Change, by itself, isn’t necessarily strange. What is strange is when cycles are broken.

In other words, it’s not strange on its own that the level of the Great Lakes is dropping. It is strange that, when the lakes’ levels normally change over a 13 year cycle, they’ve now been going down for 16 years straight. That’s 10 more than they should have been dropping for.

LiveScience:

Water levels have been declining since 1998, [climate scientist Carl] Watras told Live Science. “Our lakes have never been lower than they are.”…

“What that tells us is some hydrologic driver is operating on all of these lakes, and groundwater in the region, and controlling the water levels,” Watras said.

[Laelth]

1. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[newfie11]

2. K&R

[Orrex]

3. Not so Great now, are you Lakes?

Yeah, I'm looking at you, Huron.

[ybbor]

5. Couldn't possibly be due to Nestle pumping it out

Nestle has been pumping water out of the aquifer in the North-Central portion of the Lower Peninsula for more than a decade. You can't tell me that isn't playing some role. I know of people who have cottages on lakes near there that are literally drying up. I know it isn't the only cause, but I do believe it to be one of them.

Here is a little history:

http://waterwars.wordpress.com/2006/12/20/a-brief-history-of-nestles-water-battles-in-michigan/

[MynameisBlarney]

8. Nestle is evil

I try to avoid buying anything they make.

[ybbor]

6. Doh! Was suppose to be reply to OP.

[AllyCat]

4. Water taken for fracking?

[The Wielding Truth]

13. Fracking is a horrible way to extract natural gas. It renders our water supplies unusable and

uses massive amounts. It also releases large amounts of methane into our atmosphere.

[toby jo]

7. The west has been coming for our waters for years.

Surrounding states and Canada have formed various groups to stop them.

Facts like these will put a real stop to it.

[Moostache]

14. I wish I shared your optomism...

Facts have absolutely no bearing on ANYTHING any longer...

If they did, we would have:

- alternative energy as the highest national priority
- no foreign military bases or "Empire USA"
- free national healthcare
- free national university education
- taxation of Wall Street PER TRADE INITIATED
- sensible immigration laws and reforms
- no spying program that treats the Bill of Rights as toilet paper
- no torture houses, black sites or Gitmo
- regulation and winding down derivatives trading (including wiping out the investors who expect $1-for-$1 bailouts)
- a tax code that no longer worships the wealthy while it takes food from children
- term limits for politicians
- gun laws that limit access to military-style weaponry and ammunition while protecting hunting and sport rifles

And on and on and on...

Plain and simple truth is that FACTS get ignored and CASH is still king...

[bvar22]

16. Well Done.

It would be easy to add to your list:

-Trade Treaties that protect wages/benefits of American Workers
-Transparent, Verifiable elections
-a much higher Minimum Wage

[caraher]

9. I doubt Nestle or fracking have much to do with this in terms of sheer volume

According to the article Grist cites, it's mainly about changes in precipitation and ice cover. Similar research on lake levels in Wisconsin suggests...

Since the lake levels started their downward plunge in the late 1990s, the CGT's pattern has been stuck in a position that means less rainfall for Wisconsin, the study found. But evaporation also plays a role. Warmer-than-average winters since 1998 kept smaller lakes free of ice for longer time spans, allowing more water to escape through evaporation.

"The balance between precipitation and evaporation is key," Watras said.

The good news is that with this year's polar vortex icing the Great Lakes, combined with an early freeze in November that put a lid on small lakes, 2014 could be a better year overall for Wisconsin's lakes, Watras said.

I'd blame burning fossil fuels, to the extent that this is human caused.

[sorefeet]

10. WE NEED MORE FRACKING

15 trillion dollar dept is the least of our grandchildren problems. When they don't have breathable air or drinkable water, money means nothing.

[1gobluedem]

11. Lack of a winter snowpack is a problem too

We have had warmer winters with less snow and a consistent freeze/thaw pattern so the melting snow is evaporating more than it's going into the lakes. This year's winter has been colder and snowier than the last few years so we hope the snowpack will hold and then drain into the lakes in the spring.

[JNelson6563]

12. That's the only reason I find all the snow

tolerable this winter, in northern MI. We've been getting pounded pretty regularly since November but with our lakes so low, we know all this snow is good, even though it also sucks. Since we've had a break for a few days in a row of no snow fall, the road commission has been hauling many a truck-load of snow to the (Grand Traverse) bay. There's so much snow within our city here that the snowbanks are too high to see over when you're driving. I'm glad they are getting a chance to move some out before we get hit again.

While it will help it won't fix the problem.

Julie

[defacto7]

15. K & R