Each year nearly 50-million new cars get produced worldwide. And
because it’s home to the Big 3 automakers…the Great Lakes region
accounts for a third of those vehicles. But with all of these new
models coming on the market, what happens to the ones that are ready for
the junk yard? Believe it or not, most of them get recycled. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Poorman has more:
Month: March 1999
Dunes in Danger
The Great Lakes have the highest concentration of fresh water sand
dunes anywhere in the world. They were created thousands of years ago,
when the glaciers that formed the lakes receded. Wind patterns shaped
the dunes, which often tower hundreds of feet above the lakes. But over
the years, some sand dunes have disappeared. And others are slowly
being chipped away. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson
Reports:
Bird Repellant
Birds roost in nooks and crannies of ornate buildings such as the Illinois capitol. Cleaning up their droppings and repairing damage they cause costs tens of millions of dollars each year.
Armed with spikes, electronic devices, cages, and cannons… building
maintenance supervisors across the nation try to protect their buildings
from being invaded. If they fail, the cost could be damage to the
building or to property inside. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
Managing the Cormorants
Wildlife officials around the Great Lakes region are struggling with
the issue of double-crested cormorant populations. There are questions
about the impact of the birds on sport fish and commercial fisheries.
New York State has asked the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service to approve a
new controversial plan for managing cormorants in eastern Lake Ontario.
Zoo ‘Compost’ for Sale
It’s not unusual for gift shops at zoos to sell souvenir items like key
chains, T-shirts, and postcards. But at one zoo, a new item lets you
take a little bit of the animals home with you. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Wendy Nelson reports:
God Bless Michigan
Throughout North America, municipalities are struggling to find ways to
dispose of their trash. But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium
commentator Suzanne Elston has discovered, there is one state that’s
actually welcoming its neighbors’ garbage:
Are Today’s Kids Less Active?
The U-S Surgeon General recently declared childhood obesity as aproblem of epidemic proportion in this country. Over the last 30 years,children have been getting heavier, relative to their height. Today,one in five children is at least 20 percent above an optimal weight.The problem may not be so much what kids are eating … as it is what theyare doing. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Joan Siefert-Rose hasthis report:
Midwest Kids Struggle With Obesity
The report card on fitness is in – and it concludes that there’s a lotof room for improvement. The federal government has been keeping trackof Americans’ heights and weights for more than 30 years now. And eachtime the survey is taken, it shows that the population is heavier. TheUpper Midwest is the heaviest region in the country. The Great LakesRadio Consortium’s Joan Siefert-Rose reports on the theories behind thisdramatic increase in obesity … and the special problems faced bychildren:
New Method for Counting Deer
When wildlife managers and animal rights groups clash over whether to
kill deer, one of the big disputes is whether the herd has been counted
correctly. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports on
a new method that more accurately counts deer in the forest: