Great Lakes Levels

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

West C

Atmospheric motions is a large-scale movement of air. Atmosheric motions lift and deliver water vapor to high altitudes on the earth. The Great Lake water level can lower when the vapor is lifted from it. Also the water levels could rise if water vapor from another area rained on the great lakes. Wind could carry water from places like the Gulf of Mexico and the the water would end up in the Great Lakes.

http://glakesonline.nos.noaa.gov/monitor.html
http://www.great-lakes.net/envt/water/levels/hydro.html

Friday, March 28, 2008

Activity 1

In this activity I discovered that the dirt heats up very fast and can hold heat for very long periods of time. Snow takes a long time to melt and doesnt raise in temperature unless it melts. It then turns into water and and heat up about 2 degrees every ten minutes when it is placed under a heat lamp. It cools at the same rate. This applys to my topic of Great Lake Levels because if the lake are exposed to the sun for long periods of time the water will evaporate.

http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/now/wlevels/lowlevels/lowlevels.html
http://www.lre.usace.army.mil/greatlakes/hh/greatlakeswaterlevels/

GREAT LAKE LEVELS

The great lakes consist of Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, and Lake Erie. There levels can rise and drop due to a varity of reasons. When several months of above-average precipitation occur with cooler, cloudy conditions that cause less evaporation, the levels gradually rise. Likewise, prolonged periods of lower-than-average precipitation and warmer temperatures typically result in lowering of water levels. So in order for the levels to be affected you need to have either several months of above average precipitation or several months o

f below average precipitation.

When the Great Lakes levels rise after months of above average rain expensive lake front property can be damaged. Waves can erode the land and leave it damaged. On the other hand when the levels drop resorts and marinas sometimes dont have enough water to launch their boats. When the water drops channels dry up and fish can not get throu

Because the major factors affecting the water supply to the lakes such as precipitation, evaporation and runoff the levels cannot be controlled or accurately predicted for more than a few weeks into the future.

http://www.great-lakes.net/teach/envt/levels/lev_1.html