* New York Times on Chicago, Lake Michigan and the Chicago River…
Lake Michigan’s water level has historically risen or fallen by just a matter of inches over the course of a year, swelling in summer following the spring snowmelt and falling off in winter. Bigger oscillations, a few feet up or down from the average, also took place in slow, almost rhythmic cycles unfolding over the course of decades.
No more.
In 2013, Lake Michigan plunged to a low not seen since record-keeping began in the mid-1800s, wreaking havoc across the Midwest. Marina docks became useless catwalks. Freighter captains couldn’t fully load their ships. And fears grew that the lake would drop so low it would no longer be able to feed the Chicago River, the defining waterway that snakes through the heart of the city.
That fear was short-lived. Just a year later, in 2014, the lake started climbing at a stunning rate, ultimately setting a record summertime high in 2020 before drought took hold and water levels started plunging again.
In just seven years, Lake Michigan had swung more than six feet. It was an ominous sign that the inland sea, yoked for centuries to its historic shoreline, is starting to buck. […]
If the lake were to drop just a couple of feet below its all-time low, or surge a couple of feet above its record high, the consequences for the city could be dire. […]
If a two-foot storm surge were to strike when the lake level was just a couple of feet higher, the lock itself would in effect be useless. Lake water would overtop its gates and race into the city, and beyond. “It would be a problem,” Mr. Schmidt said as waves crashed nearby. “It would be a big problem.”
Added Mr. Valley: “All the way down to the Mississippi.”
Go read the whole thing. It’ll give you a lot more of the “why” and the “what.”
* Related…
* Northwest heat wave impossible without climate change, study finds
* Dangerous, 6-Foot Waves Possible At Lake Michigan Beaches On Thursday
* Advocates continue to push for equitable energy bill: “The truth of the matter is that some trade unions have stood in the way of Black and brown workers and contractors sharing and the chance to earn jobs, to build businesses and to create generational wealth by controlling access to apprenticeships and other job training programs, especially in the energy and construction industries,” Buckner said.
* Renewable energy? UI’s new Campus Instructional Facility can dig it: Its geothermal system can pump 135 tons of hot or cool air into the building. That’s twice as much as the next biggest geothermal system on campus, and about 30 times the amount pumped into an average home.
* New Illinois law may help homeowners sued over solar panels: A bill [HB644] awaiting Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature could bring a victory for the Basslers, as it would strengthen homeowners’ rights to get solar panels.
- SAP - Thursday, Jul 8, 21 @ 11:26 am:
Yikes. Has to be just a matter of time before those dadgum invasive carps breach the electric barrier keeping them out of Lake Michigan.
- Edyrdologist - Thursday, Jul 8, 21 @ 11:38 am:
We’ve lost several beaches up here in Rogers Park the past few years to rising lake levels. Hard to imagine this stuff not getting worse and worse as the century goes on unfortunately.
- Ok - Thursday, Jul 8, 21 @ 11:42 am:
Send the bill for the levees and liabilities to the polluters.
- bkhartbnjo - Thursday, Jul 8, 21 @ 11:47 am:
Fantastic interactive article.
- Shibboleth - Thursday, Jul 8, 21 @ 11:59 am:
We as a state, nation, world and species are truly unprepared for what is to come with Climate Change. I wish more leaders here and abroad seemed to understand the urgency.
- Proud Papa Bear - Thursday, Jul 8, 21 @ 12:07 pm:
There’s a phrase about generosity being old people who plant trees knowing they’ll never be able to sit under their shade.
Too many leaders, I fear, look at their personal hour glass and say, “not my problem.”
- Glenn - Thursday, Jul 8, 21 @ 12:16 pm:
“If the lake were to drop just a couple of feet below its all-time low, or surge a couple of feet above its record high, the consequences for the city could be dire. […]”
Few feet lower could reverse the reversed flow of the Chicago river back into Lake Michigan.
The flow was reversed so Chicago’s toilets flushed ultimately into the Gulf of Mexico where it now contributes its dead zones.
Flushing our toilets back into our Lake Michigan drinking water can’t be any better for the lake than it is for the gulf.
- Grandson of Man - Thursday, Jul 8, 21 @ 12:28 pm:
Liberals and Democrats have traded God for climate religion, which is part of the three headed hoax (Russia, COVID and climate).
But seriously, this past weekend we had hazy skies here due to forest fires in British Columbia. Don’t remember too many of those events growing up, but nowadays we can recall other similar incidents of hazy skies due to burning forests elsewhere on the continent.
- Candy Dogood - Thursday, Jul 8, 21 @ 1:05 pm:
Someone let Gary know that we can’t deploy the guard to fight crime because we’re going to need them to fill sandbags.
- Word Nerd - Thursday, Jul 8, 21 @ 3:32 pm:
Just want to put in a plug for The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, by the author of the article, Dan Egan. It’s deeply researched, well-written, and gives the reader a greater appreciation for how amazing the Great Lakes are, as well as how important they are to our region and the country. If you want to better understand our region, our economy, our environment, etc., it will do all of that and entertain at the same time.