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VideoGreat Lakes

By: Alicia VenturaInstructor: Pam Heise

Course: RCR1413_020

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

Superior and Lake MichiganInteresting Facts:

The Great Lakes are the largest system of fresh, surface water on earth, containing nearly 20% of the world supply.

The Great Lakes Basin covers an area of 750,000 square kilometers.

The Great Lakes are home to 90% of Ontario's population and 40% of Canada's economic activity.

Lake OntarioThe industrial and agricultural wealth has led to the

degradation of Lake Ontario water quality by pollution.For nearly a century, nuclear-related industrial pollution has affected the water quality and the natural environment.The pollution in Lake Ontario will soon rise and

become very strong air pollution and it will affect all that is surrounding it.

Fact: The origin of the name Lake Ontario came from the meaning of ‘large lake’ but then turned into ‘beautiful lake’.

Lake ErieThe late 1960’s Lake Erie was named biologically

dead.The Lake ranks as the lake with the largest amount

of reported air pollution. Some other ways that humans have been affected

by the quality of the Lakes water are;- Sewage- Disposal- Toxic contamination from metals and pesticides- An overdevelopment of the waters edge- Run off from agriculture and urbanization

Fire of 1969

The pollution of our waterways became a national issue in June of 1969, the day that the Cuyahoga River, flowing through Cleveland, Ohio, on its way to Lake Erie, caught on fire because it was so polluted.

Lake HuronHuron’s water quality has become a very serious

issue.Lake Huron’s water has been washing over the land,

whether from precipitation, car washing or watering crops or lawns, picks up an array of contaminants including oil, sand and salt from roadways, agricultural chemicals, and nutrients and toxic materials from both urban and rural areas.

The major types of pollution in Lake Huron include;- Pathogens- Nutrients- Toxic Contaminants

In this photo it is showing everything that is going on in Lake Huron and what is happening at the bottom of the lake that is affecting the fish and animals that live in the water. This photo is also showing what is going on outside of the lake that is causing a lot of harm to the whole body of water.

Lake Superior Lake Superior is one of the most unique ecosystems

in North America. It contains the largest surface area of freshwater lake in the world.

“Toxic pollution in Lake Superior is low compared to the other Great Lakes; however, mercury, dioxin, and PCBs can harm lake wildlife because they do not easily break down, lasting a long time in the lake.”

Fact: Lake Superior’s surface stretches over 31, 700 square miles of water.

This is an example of boats dumping waste into the water.

Lake Michigan Since Lake Michigan has many people that live

near the lake many chemicals fall into it on a daily basis.

In the northern end of Lake Michigan, twenty five years ago, more than 300 commercial fishermen supported their families.  Numerous fish processing businesses prospered.  Now, only a handful survives.

Many pollutants such as; PCBs, mercury, pesticides, dioxin and other air toxics enter Lake Michigan everyday.

This is an example of all the pollutions going into Lake Michigan. There are many factories surrounding the body of water and they continue to contaminate the lake everyday. What factories can do to our Great

Lakes.

The pollution in the Great Lakes is a very big problem that Canada and United States are facing everyday. The Great Lakes compared to a river in China which in China they hold most likely 90 percent of the house holds garbage. Unlike Canada and the United States, China does not have proper sewage systems to properly remove all waste. Even though Canada and the United States have great sewage systems we still pollute our Great Lakes on a regular basis.

The Effects Pollution Has on Recreation.

Many people enjoy the outdoors; going canoeing, kayaking, boating and taking walks along the water. But what will happen when all the lakes become dead due to the pollution? People are not going to be able to go to the water front and enjoy the out doors and recreation.

Cont’d…

If our lakes are polluted people can not fish which is a very popular past time. It takes time and effort to do but people are still getting active in recreation. Lots of fish are getting contaminated so the are not eatable to people. All the pollution is slowly killing the fish and animals who live in the water.

In my own words I feel that very little is being done about this problem that we see all over the world. People who are polluting water surfaces and not caring about what is living in the water and what it is doing to our air is continuing on doing this everyday. For years, and years it has been known about pollution in our water systems, which in some circumstances lead to our water that we drink. There needs to be a stop to this so that not all water surfaces disappear in years to come due to so much pollution going into them.

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VideoWater Pollution Of The Great

Lakes