From the introduction to a paper received last week from some accomplished Great Lakes experts:
OVERVIEW
There is wide agreement that the Great Lakes are under extreme stress, that changes have already occurred, and that those predicted for the future are unacceptable. While there is general acceptance of the notion that a piecemeal approach will not result in significant restoration of the lakes, policymakers and stakeholders are struggling with the question of how to systematically construct and implement a strategy that will protect and restore the human values associated with this unique freshwater ecosystem.
New stress factors have emerged and in combination with the residual from older stresses have resulted in new symptoms, or in some cases a return to the adverse conditions once thought to have been permanently remediated. It now appears that the Great Lakes ecological response to the human stresses is resulting in what might be termed, adaptive pathological syndrome leading to ecosystem meltdown in the most affected areas of the basin. As the term meltdown implies, the synergistic feedback of stress factors have triggered a chain reaction process of degradation.
Efforts to treat the symptoms without diagnosing the problems will lead to poor allocation of scarce research and management funds. Restoring ecosystem integrity will require joint consideration of all stresses and their effects singly, jointly and cumulatively. Certainly, new resources being sought to restore the Great Lakes should be directed toward addressing those stress factors that singly or in combination continue to push toward ecosystem meltdown. Restoration of the Great Lakes ecosystem requires not only a documentation of symptoms, but also a careful diagnosis of underlying, interrelated causes, and a detailed prescription of remedies needed to protect and restore its future health.
In early 2005, a group of internationally-recognized scientists, some with over 50 years experience in studying the Great Lakes, tackled these questions head-on, and the result is this paper. The scientists involved in its preparation readily admit that this model doesn’t explain everything that has happened to the Great Lakes. However, they believe it has utility in guiding restoration efforts by providing a context within which priorities can be focused on the type of activities and target areas that will have the most significant positive impact for the lakes as a whole.