‘Great News’ for Great Lakes as House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Approves $1 Billion for U.S. Coast Guard Infrastructure, Heavy Icebreaker
gCaptain reports that the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee recently approved $1 billion for U.S. Coast Guard shore side infrastructure nationwide and $350 million for a heavy icebreaker for the Great Lakes.
The funds were approved as part of its budget reconciliation bill, an action that the Great Lake Maritime Task Force (GLMTF) called “great news for the Great Lakes.”
Read the full article here.
Corps of Engineers video explains monthly water level bulletin
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its second 'On the Level,' Great Lakes water level and forecast video on Monday, Sept. 13.
Great Lakes Watershed Hydrology Chief Keith Kompoltowicz talks through interpreting the Detroit District's most popular product, the Great Lakes water levels monthly bulletin. Property owners, boaters, industries and many others use the bulletin as a source for water level information.
"Each lake's water level is portrayed in a hydrograph, or a plot of water surface elevation over time," according to Kompoltowicz. "The District is happy to offer this edition of 'On the Level' to help anyone better understand the information the Corps of Engineers regularly provides."
The Great Lakes Hydraulics and Hydrology Office forecasts and monitors water levels of the Great Lakes and the conditions that lead to water level fluctuations. The District's Great Lakes coastal program encompasses the entire U.S. shores of lakes Superior and Huron, the shore of Lake Michigan except for the Illinois shoreline, and the western portion of Lake Erie.
The monthly bulletin illustrates recorded, projected and average water level data with solid and dashed lines of different colors for Lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, St. Clair, Erie and Ontario.
The most recent six-month forecast, covering months September through February is available on the district's website at: go.usa.gov/xFEWx.
'On the Level' videos are available on the District's website and YouTube page at: go.usa.gov/xFEWx and youtube.com.
International Freshwater Scientists Highlight Effects of Changing Climates on Inland Lakes
Sault Ste. Marie, MI — People depend on lakes for many ecosystem services such as water, food, transportation, and recreation, but these services are at an unknown level of risk because we do not understand how lakes are affected by climate change.
A network of 39 scientists from 20 countries on five continents are collaborating to put long-term and high-frequency data to work to understand, predict, and communicate the role and response of lakes in our changing global environment.
Many of the scientists hypothesized that storms would have strong impacts on water temperature and water column mixing, based on a prior synthesis study.
However, the team’s most recent study found that wind- and rainstorms do not cause major temperature changes in lakes.
They examined how wind- and rainstorms affected lake temperature across 18 lakes and 11 countries using meteorological and water column temperature data and found minimal changes to lake temperature from storms. In fact, they found that day-to-day changes in lake temperature during non-storm periods were often more extreme than storm-induced temperature changes.
As expected, storms impacted the temperature of deep lakes less than shallow lakes because more energy is needed to mix layers of water with different temperatures in deep lakes than in shallow lakes. For example, storm-induced temperature changes in Lake Superior (average depth almost 500 feet) will be smaller than in Lake Okeechobee (average depth about 10 feet).
“Because storm-induced changes to lake temperature were minimal overall, storm-induced changes in other environmental conditions such as nutrient concentrations or light may have larger impacts on lake animals and plants,” said Dr. Jonathan Doubek, assistant professor at Lake Superior State University in the School of Natural Resources & Environment and the Center for Freshwater Research and Education, who joined the network while at the University of Vermont.
The study grew out of the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network and was co-funded by the Centre de Synthèse et d’Analyse sur la Biodiversité, the U.S. Geological Survey John Wesley Powell Center, and the Vermont Water Resources and Lake Studies Center at the University of Vermont.
Gales of November to be virtual again
The annual in-person Gales of November events in Duluth have been cancelled for the second year in a row. The Lake Superior Marine Museum Association Board recently voted to move the events to a virtual platform due to concerns for public safety amid the Delta variant outbreak. The board will be reconvening next week to discuss options, so stay tuned. Check the LSMMA website for updates: www.lsmma.com
Soo Today posted this fun story about legendary skateboarder, Tony Hawk, performing with local Sault musician, Mikey Hawdon. Hawdon convinced Hawk to perform one of the songs from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 soundtrack as part of Hawdon’s ongoing Mikey and his Uke performance series.
The video features Hawk singing a cover of punk band Millencolin’s No Cigar.
While Tony Hawk isn’t known as a singer, he does a great job as a frontman supported by an all-star cast assembled by Hawdon, including pro skater Steve Caballero joining Hawdon on guitar, former Goldfinger member Darrin Pfeiffer on drums, and Millencolin's Nikola Sarcevic on bass and backing vocals, Soo Today reported.
Photo & graphic credits: Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard