The question is, which way will the Great Lakes states and provinces, and the millions of people who run them, turn?
The Great Lakes stand at a crossroad. By some indicators -- like fish populations in Lake Erie which have rebounded in recent decades -- water quality has improved since the 1970's. But the fish aren't safe to eat. The beaches are increasingly contaminated with sewage. The water is generally deemed safe to drink, but we know that it is laced with at least 40 gender-bending and cancer causing chemicals.[1]
Today the region faces unprecedented impacts from suburban sprawl, agriculture, industry, sewage, non-native invasive species and global climate change. It was coordinated region-wide citizen action and protest[2] that sparked a major clean-up of the Great Lakes starting in the early 1970s and more of the same is sorely needed now. As anthropologist Margaret Mead said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."[3]
The health of the lakes seems to be declining. Emily Green, the Sierra Club's Great Lakes Program director says, "There is a growing consensus among Great Lakes scientists that the ecosystem is reaching a tipping point." In July the Detroit News reported that although fish populations in Lake Erie have largely rebounded from their near demise in the 1970's, phosphate levels in that lake are once again on the rise and no one is sure why.[4]
http://www.rachel.org/bulletin/index.cfm?St=1
Posted by Dave at September 20, 2005 07:40 PM