The Great Lakes
71 percent of the earth’s surface is made of water. 97 percent of earths water is saline water and not safe for human consumption. This leaves just 3 percent of earth’s water as fresh water most of which is icecaps and glaciers. 68 percent of the fresh water on Earth is found in icecaps and glaciers. 30 percent of fresh water is found in ground water leaving around .3 percent of earth’s water as surface fresh water. Of the .3 percent of surface fresh water the great lakes make up 84% of North America 's surface fresh water and about 21% of the world 's supply of surface fresh water. ("Great Lakes Facts and Figures." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.)
Pollution, invasive species, global warming; these are all aspects that affect 21% of the freshwater system in the world. The five Great Lakes and their surrounding land; Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Erie provide fresh drinking water for millions of people across the United States and Canada. The Great Lakes basin, provides fishing, hunting, and other recreational activities to the more than 33 million people living around basin of the Great lakes.
As the Great lakes play such an important role in providing safe drinking water to North America water quality and treatment are both important topics for the Great Lakes and the people that depend on them. We have spent billions of dollars to provide safe drinking water to citizen of North America and
Lake Huron is one of the most polluted fresh water lakes in America. It covers about 189 000 kilometers squared, and it is a component of the Lauretian Great Lakes. It drains to the Atlantic Ocean through St. Lawrence River. It receives an inflow from Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, while it drains to Lake Erie. The population surrounding the lake is about 3 million, which also contribute to its pollution (Ylvisaker 28).
In The Artificial River, Carol Sheriff describes how when the digging of the Erie Canal began on July 4, 1817, no one would have been able to predict that the canal would even be considered a paradox of progress. One of the major contradictions of progress was whether or not triumphing art over nature was even considered progress. People were not sure during the nineteenth century if changing the environment for industrialization was necessarily a good thing. Another contradiction to progress that resulted from the Erie Canal was when people started holding the state government responsible for all their financial misfortunes. An additional contradiction to progress that the Erie Canal displayed was how many of its workers were either
Freshwater is big part of the world functioning today. Water is used for many things and if it is not used properly than it could be destroyed. The question is what is water? Water is a tasteless and odourless often colourless liquid compound consisting of Hydrogen and Oxygen . Canada has 20% of the world fresh water supply . Which is a lot considering we have 0.49% of the worlds population as of 2014 . Water is used for many things including building infrastructure, giving people water in their homes and creating power . Water can also be used for transporting goods down rivers or lakes, and even extracting minerals from underground. Obviously, it can also be used to drink. Those are just a few of the uses water has in the world today. Water is used for almost everything and
People often wonder how the continents, states, and other landforms develop their shape and structure. Our earth, continents, countries, and states developed over billions of years and water played a huge roll in the development, shape, and structure. Within this exploratory essay you will gain knowledge on how Michigan, specifically, was shaped and how water affects the state in many ways and will continue to do so every single day until the earth ceases to exist.
The Earth is a huge planet this is covered by 70 percent water. Astonishingly from this 70 percent the human population can only use 1 percent of the world’s water the rest of it is salt water, frozen, or in some way unattainable (Santa Clara Valley Water District, 2016). Humans have found many different ways to obtain this 1 percent of fresh water they need, but the techniques vary depending on location. In San Jose, California we obtain our water from 3 major sources: groundwater, imported surface water, and local mountain surface water. These 3 sources contribute different amounts of water to the San Jose community. Imported surface water composes about 50 percent of our water supply, while ground water composes roughly 40 percent, and local mountain surface water composes approximately 10 percent (Santa Jose Water Company, 2016). However, these percentages can change due to factors such as weather and global warming.
fresh water found on planet earth is only a mere one percent (1%) and we have to bear in mind that within that one percent some are found in lakes, rivers, streams and underground aquifers.
The hydrologic cycle keeps the Great Lakes up and running. Without it, Michigan would not have the inhabitants it does today. The abundant supply of water allows a vast array of wildlife to live in Michigan, and made it a desirable place for early settlers to inhabit. However, the Great Lakes did not just appear out of thin air. There is a long history of how the Great Lakes came to be.
I lived in Michigan for thirteen years and the lakes were so beautiful and clear. People really tried to keep the lakes clean and help the environment. Even though some people try to keep the lakes clean, however with their efforts there still is trash washed up on the shore polluting the beaches. They strive to keep the lakes
Ontario's many lakes, rivers, and streams played a central role in the province's history and development. For Aboriginal peoples and the early European settlers, the lakes and rivers were a means of transportation and a source of food. Waterways determined the patterns of settlement as well as the patterns of industrialization. More than 80% of Ontarians get their drinking water from the lakes. The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin supports nearly more than 75% of Canada’s manufacturing, and a third of the country's employment in agriculture and food processing.
Attention-getter: Many of us in the United States take for granted that we would always have an infinite supply of fresh water. This is not true; the authors of the Gale Encyclopedia of Science, K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner wrote that, “less than 3% of water on Earth is fresh water” (Lerner and Lerner.)
This policy memo is addressed to Congressman David Joyce who represents the 14th District of Ohio. Congressman Joyce is a Republican who could be considered a moderate conservative on an ideological scale, meaning that he is about halfway between moderate and far-leaning right (Rep. David Joyce, 2016). Issues that Joyce works toward are the economy and jobs, which is his number one priority, and is also against regulations and taxes. Joyce is heavily involved in energy with a focus on supporting the coal, wind, and natural gas industries, in addition he is against policies that may burden small businesses. The Great Lakes and environment are a priority for Joyce as he wants to protect the Great Lakes, but mainly for economic purposes. Joyce has sponsored three bills that work to protect and/or restore the Great Lakes. He has not been vocal in regards to whether or not he believes in climate change, although his stance toward coal and natural gas would suggest that he may not, although this may be solely to protect Ohioan jobs. Additional issues that he works toward are defense & national security, health care, the national debt, tax reform, veterans, and seniors (Issues & Legislation, 2016).
I selected the causes, consequences and prevention of water pollution in the Great Lakes for my CGF3M research report. The Great Lakes are an incredible natural resource that we are very fortunate to have available to us. The Great Lakes act as a major transport corridor for goods shipped in bulk, are a large source of drinking water, popular areas for recreational activities, and provide a habitat for many marine animals and wildlife. Unfortunately, the Great Lakes have experienced a great deal of pollution over time, thus lowering the quality of the water. Water pollution in the Great Lakes is caused by many factors, such as the discharge of toxic substances, polluted runoff, atmospheric pollution and so on. The decrease in water quality
Water covers about two thirds of the total surface of Earth, but most of that is saltwater. Humans must drink freshwater to live. 97% of the water on Earth is saltwater, while only 3% of Earth's water is freshwater. And 70% of the freshwater is ice in glaciers, ice caps and permanent snow. The small amount of freshwater remaining is distributed for use to the Earth's 6 ¾ billion people for agriculture, industry,
Sixty-nine percent of freshwater is frozen in form of ice, glaciers and snow; 30% as groundwater and approximately 1% as surface water [1]. Freshwater is a vital resource sustaining human life and health. the major challenge is in the uneven distribution of freshwater around the world. Water scarcity affects more than 40% of the global population and is projected to rise. It is estimated that 783 million people do not have access to clean water and over 1.7 billion people are
The purpose of this report is to propose a solution to the problem of reduced drinking water quality due to chemical pollution. Some bodies of water in the United States are becoming polluted from chemicals and restrictions are needed to protect drinking water quality.