Great Lakes Now Lake Ontario Ontario

The past, present and future of a changing Lake Ontario

12 min read

The past, present and future of a changing Lake Ontario

By Daniel Macfarlane

This story is an excerpt from Daniel Macfarlane’s book The Lives of Lake Ontario: An Environmental History.

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS, Michigan Public and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

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Great Lakes Now

Points North: The Iceman Giveth, The Iceman Taketh

17 min read

Points North: The Iceman Giveth, The Iceman Taketh

By Ellie Katz

Points North is a biweekly podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.

This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio. 

Every November, mountain bikers flock to the woods of northern Michigan for the Iceman Cometh Challenge, a 30-mile mountain bike race that starts at a small town airport, cuts through steep forested hills, and ends at a campground.

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Great Lakes Now Ontario

Spotlight on complexity of bottled water issues, as BlueTriton exits Ontario

5 min read

Spotlight on complexity of bottled water issues, as BlueTriton exits Ontario

Activist group, Water Watchers, had reason to celebrate last month when water bottler BlueTriton announced it will cease operations in Puslinch, Ontario in January, 2025. The group’s website beamed “We Won” and said the exit was a “historic win for water justice.”

To get a better understanding of the issues surrounding bottled water in Ontario, Canada, Great Lakes Now contacted Arlene Slocombe, executive director of Water Watchers and McMaster University Professor, Dawn Martin-Hill and founder of the Indigenous Studies Program at McMaster University. 

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Great Lakes Now

Energy News Roundup: Bad news for rooftop solar customers

3 min read

Energy News Roundup: Bad news for rooftop solar customers

Customers who paid Sun Badger Solar for installations that never came won’t get a refund — at least for now. The Wisconsin-based company’s limited remaining assets will instead be used to cover a fraction of its employees’ unpaid wages. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce development expects to receive about $126,000 to go toward employee compensation.

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Great Lakes Now

The hidden rivers fueling urban floods

1 min read

The hidden rivers fueling urban floods

Flooding can destroy property and have serious effects on human health. And it can follow patterns of housing discrimination from almost a century ago. Ghost streams are waterways that were filled in or covered up during city development, and they’re a contributing factor to flooding events.

Many ghost streams are underneath historically redlined neighborhoods.

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Great Lakes Now Ontario

Canada is one step closer to burying nuclear waste in northwestern Ontario

6 min read

Canada is one step closer to burying nuclear waste in northwestern Ontario

By Fatima Syed, The Narwhal

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS, Michigan Public and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Great Lakes Now Michigan

Great Lakes Moment: Michigan’s Port of Monroe fosters a blue economy that welcomes wildlife

6 min read

Great Lakes Moment: Michigan’s Port of Monroe fosters a blue economy that welcomes wildlife

Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit PBS.

Historically, the prevailing thinking was that society could have either a healthy economy or healthy biodiversity, but not both.

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Great Lakes Now Lake Superior

Breaking Point: Minnesota’s mining legacy includes massive lake of wastewater

9 min read

Breaking Point: Minnesota’s mining legacy includes massive lake of wastewater

“Nibi Chronicles,” a monthly Great Lakes Now feature, is written by Staci Lola Drouillard. A Grand Portage Ojibwe direct descendant, she lives in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her nonfiction books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 2019 and 2022, and the children’s story “A Family Tree” in 2024.

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