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Coastal Resources
Great Lakes What
Makes the Great Lakes Great?
When most think about the Great Lakes, their first thoughts
are of their immense size and quantity of water. And they
are immense. The five Great Lakes (Huron, Michigan, Superior,
Erie and Ontario) contain an estimated 6 quadrillion gallons
of freshwater, with only the polar ice caps and Lake Baikal
in Siberia containing more. This translates into nearly one
fifth of the world’s freshwater supply, and about 95%
of North America’s fresh water supply. If one were to
spread all the water in the Great Lakes evenly across the
US, it would submerge the country in about 9.5 feet of water.
The Lakes have nearly 11,000 miles of shoreline, or 44% of
the earth’s circumference. But what many don’t
realize is that the Great Lakes are more than just the Nations
largest concentration of fresh surface water.
Throughout history, the Lakes have been
central to supporting early Native American cultures (many
of whom gave the lakes their names), and facilitated the rise
of our modern society. Today, the lakes are an essential part
of America’s economy, ecology, culture, and way of life.
More than 42 million people live within the Great Lakes Basin
and rely on the lakes for many purposes including clean drinking
water, industrial and agricultural uses, navigation, hydroelectric
power and energy production, tourism, hunting, fishing, boating,
bird watching, and a host of other activities. Currently,
7% of America’s agriculture production is located in
the Basin, with the Lake Erie basin supporting the most fertile
soils. The world class fishery found in the lakes attracts
tourists from all parts of the globe, and when combined with
the huge number of recreational boaters, these recreational
opportunities contribute over $9 billion to the regional economy
each year. Combined with shipping and manufacturing, this
number jumps to hundreds of billions of dollars annually.
New York is lucky to border two of the
five Lakes, Erie and Ontario, as well as the ecologically
rich Niagara and St. Lawrence Rivers. The watershed represents
over 40% of the state’s landmass. Lake Erie is the smallest
of the lakes in volume and shallowest in depth, reaching 62
feet on average. Being this shallow allows it to freeze over
in the winter and warm rapidly in the spring, but also makes
it most susceptible to the effects of urbanization and agricultural
runoff. Lake Ontario on the other hand is smaller in surface
area than Lake Erie, but much deeper, reaching 283 feet on
average. Its US shore is less developed than Lake Erie, but
still faces many of the same threats from pollution and development.
The Great Lakes are host to many unique
and irreplaceable habitats including over 500 thousand acres
of coastal wetlands, thousands of miles of river and coastal
riparian zones, rare upland forest habitats, and the world's
largest freshwater dune habitat, as well as thousands of inland
lakes and wetland systems. In addition, over 100 Audubon Important
Bird Areas (IBA) have been identified throughout the basin,
which support over 350 species of birds that depend on them
for migration and nesting habitat. One of the most significant
of IBAs is located right in the Buffalo Area.
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