The Great Lakes: Lake Superior, Huron, Erie, And Ontario

The Great Lakes include Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. The lakes hold the majority of the earth’s freshwater which means they are very important for Canadians, Americans, plants, and animals because they rely on these lakes to survive. Water is the basis of all life on earth. For millions of Canadians the lakes are the main source of drinking water, but the lakes are becoming polluted. It’s not the first time that the lakes have been like this. In the 1960’s Lake Erie was identified as ‘dead’ because of phosphorus (Chris Brackley, Nick Walter). Sure, they may have ‘saved’ Lake Erie again, but now the lakes are dying once again, and fast. Phosphorus can be very dangerous and especially in large quantities. But phosphorus

Over the years, global warming has caused a raise and lowering of the lake’s water level. Previously, water levels were at an all-time low but now they’re getting higher and higher. Water level readings show that Lake Michigan and Lake Huron have higher levels than a year ago, it has been increased by 12.7 centimeters (Globe and Mail). Not only is Lake Michigan and Lake Huron getting higher but Lake Erie is rising by 10.2 centimeters, Lake Ontario is higher by 12.7 centimeters, and Lake Superior by 17.8 centimeters (Globe and Mail). Not only has Global warming caused higher water levels but it has also changed the temperatures of the lakes which has caused problems to. Like Lake Superior, it has expanded water temperatures before summer even starts. If you give Lake Superior another 30 years and it will not freeze over in the winter and will be its average temperature. The warmer waters can also cause many problems for fish living in the lakes, because some fish can’t survive in ‘warmer’ temperature waters, which means that cold water fish currently living there may not be able to survive if the water keeps getting warmer. We already know that the lakes have gotten warmer because of the invasive algae blooms in all the lakes, especially Lake

Though large bodies of water have the ability to dilute many waste materials, if too much waste is dumped into the lakes they will not be able to keep up. Unfortunately, in the 18th and 19th century people thought that water could dilute any substance, so they used the lakes as landfills. Industrial waste includes garbage, sewage and unsafe chemicals in manufacturing industries. Many chemicals from manufacturing industries can cause extreme water contamination, it can cause problems for plants, animals, and humans. Bacteria covered beaches, lakes gagged with green algae and fish that have been contaminated: these have been side effects of industrial waste in the Great Lakes since the late 1950s. Waste can affect animals because fish can become toxic if they live in the toxic waters. If the fish become toxic then it could affect humans because we happen to eat fish from the Great Lakes. Even the International Joint Commission issued a warning that eating fish from the lakes can drastically affect your health in 2000. The good thing is that the government has already stepped up to create the “Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement” containing laws that prevent people from polluting the lakes. The agreement is not new, it was signed in 1972 because even then they knew they had to do something about the pollution in the