The Great Lakes―Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario and Superior―hold 20 percent of the world’s supply of surface fresh water and provide sustenance, work and recreation for tens of millions of Americans. But they are under threat as never before, and their problems are spreading across the continent.
On this episode of Locus Focus we continue our discussion about the Great Lakes begun on May 1st. Dan Egan, author of The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, returns to discuss what has caused the perils that now face this vital and iconic ecosystem. This week we explore the waves of invasive species, particularly zebra and quagga mussels, that not only wreak havoc in the Great lakes but now threaten places far away from the Great Lakes, like the Colorado river system and its vulnerable dams.
Dan Egan is a reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He has twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and he has won the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, John B. Oakes Award, AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award, and J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award. A graduate of the Columbia Journalism School, he lives in Milwaukee with his wife and children.
- KBOO