Maybe now my Dr. Seuss Poem will make sense/
This is not my best. I could have done this in more detail, but i was rushed. Either way, enjoy."
Also: I turned in the Dr. Seuss poem as my cover page...
The Troubles with Lake Erie
The Great Lakes are made up of Lake Huron, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. These Lakes surround the following states: Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania (all in the United States), and Ontario, Canada. These five lakes contain more than 95% of the surface freshwater in the lower 48 states of the United States, and almost 20% of the world’s freshwater. (National Wildlife Federation) These Great Lakes are also used to transport goods for our industrialized nation. Many families will go to the shores of these lakes to take their children swimming and fishing. The Great Lakes are also used for the drinking water of the people in its surrounding areas. Since these lakes are so valuable to us for multiple reasons, it would be in our best interest to make sure that they are being taken care of properly. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Our Great Lakes are in trouble. Lake Erie has been having problems with pollution, lack of nutrients and dying ecosystems for more than thirty years.
The United States is one of the most industrialized nations in the world. The Great Lakes have helped us reach this status, with making the development of industrial areas around large bodies of water a more convenient way to develop. Unfortunately, Lake Erie is in some big trouble. Lake Erie is the most shallow and warmest of the lakes. It is also only 54 miles from the shoreline in Michigan, which means the high levels of pollution are affecting it. The pollution that is entering Lake Erie has filled the lake with high levels of phosphorous. The high levels of phosphorous have created more plants to grow and even decompose into Lake Erie. This has caused many of the fish to suffer from anoxia, which is a severe deficiency of oxygen. This has contaminated the water in this Lake.
In the 1960’s Lake Erie was declared “dead”. The ecosystem in Lake Erie had such great areas that were considered “dead zones”. Although the lake was not entirely dead, all of the algae and abundance of plants covering up the upper surface of the lake were killing the native life forms. This caused the ecosystems to not receive enough oxygen. To defend the Great Lakes, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments were formed in 1972, and were later amended as the Clean Water Act in 1977.This was signed by both the United States and Canada, since the condition of the Great Lakes affect both countries. The Clean Water Act set requirements for water quality standards for all contaminants in surface waters. The Act also discussed the maximum levels of phosphorous that are allowed to be distributed into Lake Erie. Over the last thirty years, the levels of phosphorous loads are below the maximum level. Although this sounds as if the lake should be doing fine, it is not.
There is another problem with Lake Erie. During the late 1980’s, Zebra mussels overran Lake Erie. Zebra mussels are small freshwater mussels that are natives to the Eastern Europe. These zebra mussels eat algae; yet leave only little food for the other fish. Fishermen have complained that the docks, undersides of the boats, and the entire surrounding area of the lake are covered in the zebra mussels. Since the zebra mussels are not natives to the waters, there are not predators to limit their number; instead they continue to expand.
Despite these problems, Lake Erie’s conditions have gotten better since the 1960’s. That is, until the Bush Administration took over. According to the Environmental Media Services, “In January 2003 the Bush administration issued a directive that instructed its agencies not to enforce the Clean Water Act to protect many wetlands, small streams and other waters without first obtaining permission from headquarters.” The Bush Administration also announced that they would be rewriting the Clean Water Act Protections. The problem with this is that the Bush Administration does not have a strong past with being “environmentally friendly”. In the White House, the people involved in the environmental policy have past histories of being former CEO’s of Halliburton, a giant in oil services, former lobbyists in oil and mining and even in the lead-industry. Another person in the Administration is a former utility lobbyist, who has advised President Bush to ease pollution controls and ignore global warming. (Rolling Stone) These are just a few of the people making up the environmental policy. Does this really sound to you like people who should be rewriting environmental laws? Since they have been active with the Clean Water Act, dead zones have shown up again in Lake Erie.
President Bush claimed the year 2002-03 the “Year of Clean Water”, in observance of the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. He also stated that “As part of our Nation’s long-term commitment to protecting our environment and natural resources, we must continue to focus on our cleaner air, water and land, healthier citizens, and vibrant ecosystems.” (Year of Clean Water 2002-2003) Pardon me for asking, but was he including the condition of Lake Erie in that statement?
Lake Erie is facing some serious dilemmas, and with an Administration in office rewriting our environmental laws, I do not know if it can survive. The more thought that goes into how important the Great Lakes are to not only our country, but the entire world, the more concerned I become. How can we claim the “Year of Clean Water”, when one of our worlds biggest water sources is being declared dead? And why are we allowing past polluters to make our environmental decisions? It seems to me that phosphorus and zebra mussels may not be Lake Erie’s biggest threat.
Also: I turned in the Dr. Seuss poem as my cover page...
The Troubles with Lake Erie
The Great Lakes are made up of Lake Huron, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. These Lakes surround the following states: Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania (all in the United States), and Ontario, Canada. These five lakes contain more than 95% of the surface freshwater in the lower 48 states of the United States, and almost 20% of the world’s freshwater. (National Wildlife Federation) These Great Lakes are also used to transport goods for our industrialized nation. Many families will go to the shores of these lakes to take their children swimming and fishing. The Great Lakes are also used for the drinking water of the people in its surrounding areas. Since these lakes are so valuable to us for multiple reasons, it would be in our best interest to make sure that they are being taken care of properly. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Our Great Lakes are in trouble. Lake Erie has been having problems with pollution, lack of nutrients and dying ecosystems for more than thirty years.
The United States is one of the most industrialized nations in the world. The Great Lakes have helped us reach this status, with making the development of industrial areas around large bodies of water a more convenient way to develop. Unfortunately, Lake Erie is in some big trouble. Lake Erie is the most shallow and warmest of the lakes. It is also only 54 miles from the shoreline in Michigan, which means the high levels of pollution are affecting it. The pollution that is entering Lake Erie has filled the lake with high levels of phosphorous. The high levels of phosphorous have created more plants to grow and even decompose into Lake Erie. This has caused many of the fish to suffer from anoxia, which is a severe deficiency of oxygen. This has contaminated the water in this Lake.
In the 1960’s Lake Erie was declared “dead”. The ecosystem in Lake Erie had such great areas that were considered “dead zones”. Although the lake was not entirely dead, all of the algae and abundance of plants covering up the upper surface of the lake were killing the native life forms. This caused the ecosystems to not receive enough oxygen. To defend the Great Lakes, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments were formed in 1972, and were later amended as the Clean Water Act in 1977.This was signed by both the United States and Canada, since the condition of the Great Lakes affect both countries. The Clean Water Act set requirements for water quality standards for all contaminants in surface waters. The Act also discussed the maximum levels of phosphorous that are allowed to be distributed into Lake Erie. Over the last thirty years, the levels of phosphorous loads are below the maximum level. Although this sounds as if the lake should be doing fine, it is not.
There is another problem with Lake Erie. During the late 1980’s, Zebra mussels overran Lake Erie. Zebra mussels are small freshwater mussels that are natives to the Eastern Europe. These zebra mussels eat algae; yet leave only little food for the other fish. Fishermen have complained that the docks, undersides of the boats, and the entire surrounding area of the lake are covered in the zebra mussels. Since the zebra mussels are not natives to the waters, there are not predators to limit their number; instead they continue to expand.
Despite these problems, Lake Erie’s conditions have gotten better since the 1960’s. That is, until the Bush Administration took over. According to the Environmental Media Services, “In January 2003 the Bush administration issued a directive that instructed its agencies not to enforce the Clean Water Act to protect many wetlands, small streams and other waters without first obtaining permission from headquarters.” The Bush Administration also announced that they would be rewriting the Clean Water Act Protections. The problem with this is that the Bush Administration does not have a strong past with being “environmentally friendly”. In the White House, the people involved in the environmental policy have past histories of being former CEO’s of Halliburton, a giant in oil services, former lobbyists in oil and mining and even in the lead-industry. Another person in the Administration is a former utility lobbyist, who has advised President Bush to ease pollution controls and ignore global warming. (Rolling Stone) These are just a few of the people making up the environmental policy. Does this really sound to you like people who should be rewriting environmental laws? Since they have been active with the Clean Water Act, dead zones have shown up again in Lake Erie.
President Bush claimed the year 2002-03 the “Year of Clean Water”, in observance of the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. He also stated that “As part of our Nation’s long-term commitment to protecting our environment and natural resources, we must continue to focus on our cleaner air, water and land, healthier citizens, and vibrant ecosystems.” (Year of Clean Water 2002-2003) Pardon me for asking, but was he including the condition of Lake Erie in that statement?
Lake Erie is facing some serious dilemmas, and with an Administration in office rewriting our environmental laws, I do not know if it can survive. The more thought that goes into how important the Great Lakes are to not only our country, but the entire world, the more concerned I become. How can we claim the “Year of Clean Water”, when one of our worlds biggest water sources is being declared dead? And why are we allowing past polluters to make our environmental decisions? It seems to me that phosphorus and zebra mussels may not be Lake Erie’s biggest threat.