Baraka Farrington/Google. Long Live the Laurentian Great Lakes - Eos But from Duluth to Chicago to Cleveland to Buffalo, leaders are reeling from untold billions in damage and the prospect that climate change will make things worse in the . This is most noticeable along Lake Superior's shores. The lakes drain a large watershed via many rivers and contain approximately 35,000 islands. [36], The lake levels are affected primarily by changes in regional meteorology and climatology. 62, Iss. It has been estimated that the foundational geology that created the conditions shaping the present day upper Great Lakes was laid from 1.1 to 1.2billion years ago,[14][54] when two previously fused tectonic plates split apart and created the Midcontinent Rift, which crossed the Great Lakes Tectonic Zone. Storm-generated waves carve the lakes' ice sheet and create conical mounds through the eruption of water and slush. Great Lakes - Ocean Connections The Great Lakes Circle Tour is a designated scenic road system connecting all of the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River.[126]. [112] In the first half of the 20th century large luxurious passenger steamers sailed the lakes in opulence. [113] The Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company had several vessels at the time and hired workers from all walks of life to help operate these vessels. Periodic mass die-offs result in vast numbers of the fish washing up on shore; estimates by various governments have placed the percentage of Lake Michigan's biomass which was made up of alewives in the early 1960s as high as 90%. Rather large severe thunderstorms covering wide areas are well known in the Great Lakes during mid-summer; these Mesoscale convective complexes or MCCs[59] can cause damage to wide swaths of forest and shatter glass in city buildings. 5 Great Lakes Beaches In Wisconsin That Feel Like The Ocean Dozens of other Areas of Concern have received partial cleanups such as the Rouge River (Michigan) and Waukegan Harbor (Illinois). Some people consider the Caspian sea to be a lake and others consider it to be a sea. [49] This is enough water to cover the 48 contiguous U.S. states to a uniform depth of 9.5 feet (2.9m). Mercury has been known for health related problems such as birth defects in humans and animals, and the near extinction of eagles in the Great Lakes region.