great lakes

  1. U-M Block M Logo

    Lake Erie produces ‘forbidden soup’ of rotating potential toxins

  2. A 2022 satellite image captures the Great Lakes between Green Bay, Wisconsin and the western edge of Lake Ontario. Michigan's outline is readily discerned between the remaining Great Lakes—Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie—on a clear, sunlit summer day.

    U-M analysis of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative reveals keys to bipartisan Great Lakes policy

  3. Lake Superior, covered in ice, at dusk. One lone ice fisher hut sits on the lake as night falls.

    How changing ice conditions impact Great Lakes communities

  4. Great lakes in America in planet Earth. Image credit: Adobe Stock

    As binational representatives convene for Great Lakes Day, U-M experts are available to comment

  5. A composite satellite image shows North America, with Mexico easily visible against a deep blue sea. The northern U.S. and Canada are hidden, however, under dense white clouds, swirling around an extratropical cyclone center above Minnesota.

    Discovering new connections between Great Lakes’ winter storms and global climate patterns

  6. By most accounts, the Edmund Fitzgerald was the greatest ship on the Great Lakes. Image credit: Encyclopedia Britannica.

    Edmund Fitzgerald and safe shipping on the Great Lakes: U-M experts available to comment

  7. U-M center launches its 2025 sustainability factsheets, featuring two all-new entries

  8. Piping plovers in the second stage of development before being released. Image credit: Jeremy Marble, University of Michigan News

    Piping plover: Saving Great Lakes shorebirds and shorelines

  9. Beach at MDOT roadside park, north of Oscoda, MI. Lake Huron. Image credit: Michigan Sea Grant

    Experts available to discuss how federal funds protect lives and livelihoods in the Great Lakes region

  10. Two heatmap-style graphs depict monthly temperature extremes for Lake Superior from 1941 to 2021. The y-axis represents months (1 to 12), and the x-axis shows years. "Degree heating days (°C·days)" are shown in the heat waves plot using a red color gradient, ranging from 0 (white) to 120 (dark red). Four notable heat waves are apparent before 1996, with five following 1996. Black lines indicate "breakpoints" or significant shifts in trends around 1970, 1986, 1996 and 2001. The cold spell plot shows "Degree cooling days (°C·days)" using a blue color gradient. Darker blue indicates more intense cold spells, with white corresponding to no anomaly and dark blue showing a -120 degree cooling day. Three intense cooling events are seen in the 1940s and early 50s, but largely vanish until 1996. The most intense heat waves and cold spells tend to happen in the summer for Lake Superior.

    The Great Lakes are in an extreme new era

  11. The U-M Biological Station sign welcomes visitors to the property. Image credit: Alexis Rankin

    U-M Biological Station invites public to free summer lectures

  12. A view of the Mackinac Bridge and the Straits of Mackinac as seen from Mackinaw City, Michigan. Image credit: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Line 5’s history, legal standing and environmental impact: U-M experts weigh in

  13. A view of the Mackinac Bridge and the Straits of Mackinac as seen from Mackinaw City, Michigan. Image credit: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Line 5 and American Indian law: ‘It’s really quite Orwellian.’

  14. A view of the Mackinac Bridge and the Straits of Mackinac as seen from Mackinaw City, Michigan. Image credit: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Line 5 and its risks: ‘The consequences of failure would be catastrophic.’

  15. A view of the Mackinac Bridge and the Straits of Mackinac as seen from Mackinaw City, Michigan. Image credit: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Line 5 and its story in Michigan: ‘It’s had more twists and turns than a Russian spy novel.’

  16. A view of the Mackinac Bridge and the Straits of Mackinac as seen from Mackinaw City, Michigan. Image credit: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Line 5 and climate change: ‘We don’t have an energy emergency. We have a willpower emergency.’

  17. Satellite image of Lake Erie. Image credit: NOAA Great Lakes CoastWatch MODIS Satellite Image - July 6, 2020

    Bacterial villain behind Lake Erie’s ‘potent toxin’ unveiled by U-M study

  18. Concept illustration of a large lake surrounded by forests. Image credit: Nicole Smith, made with Midjourney

    The state of the Great Lakes: U-M experts available to comment

  19. A perch with four dark stripes running up and down its body swims above pebbles against a black background.

    Climate, dead zones and fish: Solving a ‘wicked problem’ in Lake Erie and beyond

  20. A composite satellite image shows North America, with Mexico easily visible against a deep blue sea. The northern U.S. and Canada are hidden, however, under dense white clouds, swirling around an extratropical cyclone center above Minnesota.

    U-M research forecasts warmer, rainier winter storms ahead for Great Lakes region