Climate Change

Getting Fixed

The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) is getting an overhaul. This is an agreement between Canada and the United States that provides for binational efforts to restore and protect the Great Lakes. The agreement was first signed in 1972, dealing primarily with sewage discharges. It was amended in 1978 to address toxic substances, and 1987 to target basin toxic hot spots, called in the agreement Areas of Concern. The governments completed a review of the Agreement with public input in September 2007. 
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Most Unwanted
 
In our biodiversity series, commemorating the UN's International Year of Biodiversity, we look at the issue of invasive species and their impacts on Lake Huron's biodiversity. There are more than 180 non-native, invasive species that have become established in and around the Great Lakes since the 1800s. Alien invasive species are often described by scientists as “biological pollution”, due to their ability to negatively impact the ecosystem and the native populations of the flora and fauna that it supports. Once introduced, invasive species must be managed and controlled, since they are virtually impossible to eradicate.
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The HIPPO in the room

In this issue, we'll talk about the threats to biodiversity along the Lake Huron coast.  Threats to biodiversity can be described through the acronym HIPPO. 
 

Habitat Loss - Habitat loss, alteration and fragmentation directly affect the species that rely on the habitat that is being changed.  Shoreline and urban development, agriculture and various recreational activities in sensitive parts of the lakeshore has caused, and continues to cause, loss of habitat along Lake Huron.  Lake Huron coastal ecosystems, including coastal meadow marshes, dune grasslands, bluff and alvars are among the rarest environments in Ontario, with an abundance of rare and at risk species.
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 Stepping Back

In our last issue, we introduced the term "biodiversity", the diversity of living things in our environment. In this issue we'll discuss biodiversity from a broad lake-wide perspective, and how plant life in particular contributes to the health of our lake environment.

 When we observe environmental problems showing up at the beach, like excessive algae washing ashore, or posted beaches due to high bacteria, often these problems originate beyond the local beach area. Some of these issues are compounded by the state of our watersheds.  The Lake Huron watershed covers roughly 134,000 square kilometres.  Since European settlement of the Lake Huron region, the watershed has undergone significant changes, particularly south of the Bruce Peninsula, and along southern Georgian Bay. Forest cover, for instance, has been reduced from  an estimated pre-settlement extent of 90% to around 18%, and as low as 6% in some of Huron's river systems.