The spectacular landscapes and pristine waters of the north shore of Lake Superior, which once provided inspiration for the Group of Seven, are now vulnerable to algal blooms.
The growing environmental and health risks posed by microplastics can only be addressed by reducing the amount of plastic produced and ensuring that all of it is recycled.
In winter 2023-24, the Great Lakes’ ice cover was near record lows, peaking at just 16%. Researchers explain how diminishing ice could have consequences for fisheries, and how species are evolving.
Increasing awareness of the dangers ‘forever chemical’ road salts pose to our fresh water systems highlights the urgent importance of finding new approaches to de-icing our roads.
Images of the 2011 tsunami did not look as I had expected, and pointed to the sublime, when experience exceeds our frameworks of understanding. My exhibit ‘Salients’ treats this theme.
Donald Boesch, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and Donald Scavia, University of Michigan
Nutrient pollution fouls lakes and bays with algae, killing fish and threatening public health. Progress curbing it has been slow, mainly because of farm pollution.
Working waterfronts are a key link between consumers and seafood, but are increasingly threatened by developers. Policies need to ensure that waterfronts remain accessible to seafood harvesters.
Should lakes, rivers and other resources have legal rights? New Zealand, Ecuador and other countries have taken this step. Now Toledo, Ohio is a US test case.
Scientists are predicting major algae blooms in Lake Erie and large dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico this summer. Nutrient pollution from industrial corn farming is a major driver.
What would you pay to keep trash off your favorite beach, or pollution away from a national park? Economists can tease these values out of our travel choices and use the numbers to help make policy.
Scientists have mapped a huge dead zone in the Gulf of Oman, without enough oxygen in the water to support life. This Speed Read explains why dead zones form in waters around the world.
Nitrogen and phosphorus are polluting US waters, creating algae blooms and dead zones. New research confirms that voluntary steps are failing in the Gulf of Mexico and unlikely to work in Lake Erie.
The same conditions – ultimately tied to nutrient runoff – that created the damaging toxic blooms and dead zones in US waterways of recent years are forecast to return this year.
Professor and York University Research Chair in Global Change Biology; Director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research Global Water Academy, York University, Canada