According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the intensity of hourly rainfall has increased in U.S. cities since 1970, with the Great Lakes region being among the most affected areas.

Great Lakes Now spoke with Stephen Shaw, a professor at the State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

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Great Lakes Now hosted a multimedia celebration of bird conservation and spring migration across the Great Lakes region last week.

The virtual event showcased the short film “Birds of Paradise” from Points North and the Boardman Review, which follows a waterbird migration counter at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory near Paradise, Michigan.

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Abdullatif Ahmed was just 23 years old when he first stepped foot on the Medusa Challenger, a 1906-built Great Lakes bulk freighter.

“Before I came to America in 1990,” he said, “I had never even seen the sea.”

Born and raised in Juban, a rural district in southern Yemen, Ahmed was drawn to the Great Lakes by family history and opportunity.

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If you’ve been outside, you’ve probably run into branta canadesis — the Canada Goose.

From urban parks to rural fields, these birds seem to be everywhere. And their presence isn’t always welcome. Goose poop can contain e. coli bacteria, and the birds themselves can carry — and spread — avian flu.

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Candidates for president of the United States address many issues on the campaign trail as they criss-cross the country pitching their policy agendas.

The economy, healthcare and immigration were among the leading topics in the runup to the 2024 election. However, it’s uncommon for a candidate to talk about the availability of water.

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A recent Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan report documents substantial progress in creating The Great Lakes Way — an interconnected set of greenways and water trails stretching from Port Huron, Michigan on southern Lake Huron to Toledo, Ohio on western Lake Erie.

In 2000, the Community Foundation polled metropolitan Detroit communities about obstacles to building greenways.

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Waves of Change is an online interview series highlighting the diverse faces and perspectives shaping the environmental justice movement throughout the Great Lakes region.

This month, we spoke with Antonio Cosme, an Indigenous-descended creative, organizer and educator from southwest Detroit whose current work spans conservation, environmental justice and traditional ecological activities.

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Great Lakes Now and Weathered held a discussion about the future of clean energy in the Great Lakes region and beyond.

Great Lakes Now Host Anna Sysling moderated a panel of clean energy researchers, journalists and industry experts.

Watch the full panel discussion:

Featured guests included:

• Dr.

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The sight of the first snow on the horizon of Bill Wiley’s 500-acre farm in Shelby County, Ohio, is a welcome relief. The 2024 growing season has been incredibly dry.

“We are about eight inches behind regular precipitation for the year,” he said.

But Wiley, who farms corn, soybeans, wheat, pumpkins and gords, has installed two inline water control structures that control the flow of drainage water from two of his fields.

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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. 

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.