Project

Climate Change and Great Lakes Cities

The shores of the Great Lakes are dotted with cities that have seen their fortunes decline over recent decades. Leaders in those cities are beginning to consider whether a combination of open and available spaces from industrial decline, access to relatively ample freshwater and other resources that can be drawn from the Great Lakes might position them to attract those forced to relocate by climate change. But these cities still must reckon with their own infrastructure and climate-related concerns. This collaborative reporting project, led by the Institute for Nonprofit News, will examine the effect of climate change on such issues as infrastructure, equity, demographics, water quality, environment, and economic development.

Editorial partners include Investigative Post (Buffalo, N.Y.), Belt Magazine (Cleveland), Great Lakes Now/Detroit Public TV (Detroit), Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, Side Effects/WFYI (Indiana) and Ensia (Minnesota). In addition, American Public Media's water initiative, The Water Main, is an engagement partner for the project, helping to ensure this reporting reaches new audiences beyond the typical audiences for our partners.

Great Lakes Now Presents Episode 1013: From Rust to Resilience

Rebuilding Chicago’s iconic lakefront, managing Buffalo’s rainwater and sewage, and tracking the annual algal blooms in Lake Erie are all part of the Great Lakes region’s effort to manage the impacts of climate change. This month, Great Lakes Now takes you to meet the citizens, city leaders and scientists who are working on these issues.