dan egan death and life of the great lakes

Lawrence Seaway in the 1950’s allowed ships to sail across the Atlantic into the Great Lakes, bringing with them invasive species, particularly zebra and quagga mussels, in the ships’ ballast water. The building of the Erie Canal in the early part of the 1800s first enabled non-native species like the sea lamprey and alewife, to decimate the population of native fish. Humans have made many changes in the past 200 years that have upset the ecological balance in the region. Add to that the large number of jobs and the possibilities for recreation, there are millions of people that rely on the Great Lakes for their livelihood and their leisure as well as for their water supply.įor thousands of years, the Great Lakes were separated from the Atlantic Ocean. This fact alone makes what happens to the Great Lakes of critical importance. The Great Lakes contain 20% of the world’s supply of surface fresh water. From the early changes that humans have made to this extensive ecosystem beginning in the 1800s to the ongoing threats they face, Egan tells the story of one our most important natural resources in a way that both educates readers and inspires them to do what they can to preserve them for future generations. He knows his stuff and he’s able to present it in a very interesting and readable way. It’s The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan.Īuthor Dan Egan has been writing about the Great Lakes for more than 10 years. One of the best conservation books I’ve read in a long time is the one that was our “assigned reading” for the GCA Conservation Study Trip to Lake Erie in September 2017.

Dan egan death and life of the great lakes