Itching for more knowledge on the world that surrounds us? You’ve come to the right place for science and tips on all things straight-up environment, from climate to water to wetlands. Go ahead, get smarter.
climate science + tips
hot snow science
- Potential Impacts of a Warming Climate on Water Availability in Snow-dominated Regions, TP Barnett, et. al., Nature, 2005
- Effects of Changes in Snow Pattern and the Timing of Runoff on NYC Water Supply System, A. Mantose, et. al., Hydrological Processes, 2011
- Climate Adaptation Toolkit Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
- Portraits of Climate Change: The Rocky Mountains, Worldwatch Institute
cool snow tips
- Global Warming Myth: It Don’t Mean a Thing to…Freshwater Fish
- Myth: Lake Michigan Is So Big That Chicago Can’t Run Out of Water
- Myth: Road and Sidewalk Salt Is Natural and Just Disappears
hot trees and climate change science
- Properly Placed Shade Trees Reduce Summertime Electricity Bills in Sacramento, California, Geoffery Donovan and David Butry, Arborist News, 2009
- Estimating Potential Habitat for 134 Eastern U.S. Tree Species Under Six Climate Scenarios, Louis Iverson, et al, Forest Ecology and Management, 2008
- Widespread Increase of Tree Mortality Rates in the Western United States, P. Van Mantgem, et. al., Science, 2009
- Forest Ecosystem Responses to Exotic Pests and Pathogens in Eastern North America, Gary Lovett, Charles Canham, et. al., BioScience, 2008
- Pests and Diseases Threatening Urban Trees Under a Changing Climate, K. Tubby and J. Webber, Forestry, 2010
- NASA on the “relentless rise” of CO2, and overall evidence of global warming
cool trees and climate change tips
- Emerald Ash Borer, info compiled by a partnership of state universities and the USDA Forest Service
- Mapping EAB Detections Across the U.S. and Canada [PDF], USDA
- Managing Emerald Ash Borer: Decision Guide [PDF], Indiana DNR and Purdue University
- Emerald Ash Borer Management Statement [PDF], Coalition for Urban Ash Tree Conservation
- SLAM: Slow Ash Mortality
- Forest Pest Rap, Kerry Britton via YouTube
**Hint: for information on how climate change is affecting wildlife, please go to our Animal Science + Tips page.
water science + tips
hot water supply/drought science
- Most Endangered Rivers of 2013, American Rivers
- On Track?: Ensuring the Resilience of the Great Lakes Compact, Jared Teutsch, Alliance for the Great Lakes, 2013
- Colorado River Water Uses: 21st Century Solutions for the Colorado River Basin’s Unbalanced Uses, Drew Beckwith, Western Resources Advocates, 2011
- Where Does California’s Water Come From? Land Conservation and the Watersheds That Supply California’s Drinking Water, Nature Conservancy of California, 2012
- Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2005, Joan Kenny, et. al, USGS, 2009
- Money Pit: The High Cost and High Risk of Water Supply Resevoirs in the Southeast, American Rivers, 2012
- Most Endangered Rivers of 2013, American Rivers
- On Track?: Ensuring the Resilience of the Great Lakes Compact, Jared Teutsch, Alliance for the Great Lakes, 2013
- Colorado River Water Uses: 21st Century Solutions for the Colorado River Basin’s Unbalanced Uses, Drew Beckwith, Western Resources Advocates, 2011
- Where Does California’s Water Come From? Land Conservation and the Watersheds That Supply California’s Drinking Water, Nature Conservancy of California, 2012
- Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2005, Joan Kenny, et. al, USGS, 2009
- Money Pit: The High Cost and High Risk of Water Supply Resevoirs in the Southeast, American Rivers, 2012
cool water supply/drought tips
- The United Nations’ World Water Day: March 22
- Circle of Blue’s water usage infographics
- USDA’s water supply forecasts
- The Value of Water
- National Wildlife Federation’s water conservation tips
- National Geographic’s water conservation tips
- The United Nations’ World Water Day: March 22
- Circle of Blue’s water usage infographics
- USDA’s water supply forecasts
- The Value of Water
- National Wildlife Federation’s water conservation tips
- National Geographic’s water conservation tips
hot DIY water management science
- Reducing Combined Sewer Overflows in the Great Lakes: Why Investing in Infrastructure Is Critical to Improving Water Quality [pdf], Alliance for the Great Lakes, 2012
- Stormwater Management in the City of Chicago, an Abstract History [pdf], by Suzanne Malec, City of Chicago Department of Environment
- EcoMyth: Lake Michigan Is So Big That Chicago Can’t Run Out of Water
- EcoMyth: What Happens in Chicago Water Stays in Chicago Water
cool DIY water management tips
- Buying a Rain Barrel with the MWRD
- Make Your Own Rain Barrel with tips from the City of Chicago
- Rain Barrel FAQs from the MMSD
- Rain Garden info from the MMSD
- Rain Garden info from the Chicago Botanic Garden
wetlands science + tips
hot wetlands science
- An Ecological Solution to the Flood Damage Problem [PDF], Donald Hey, Jill Kostel, and Deanna Montgomery, Saint Louis University, 2009
- Drainage: The Pros, the Cons, and the Future [PDF], Donald Hey, Hydrological Science and Technology, American Institute of Hydrology, 2002
- Coastal Flooding and Wetland Loss in the 21st Century, Robert Nicholls, Global Environmental Change, 2004
- Wetlands, WJ Mitsch and JG Gosselink, John Wiley & Sons, 2007The Essential Environment: The Science Behind the Stories, JH Withgott and S. Brennan., Pearson/Benjamin Cummings Press, 2009
- Reducing nitrogen loading to the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River Basin: Strategies to counter a persistent ecological problem,” WJ Mitsch, BioScience, 2001
cool wetlands tips
- Living With Wetlands: A Handbook for Homeowners in Northeastern Illinois [PDF], Laura Urban/the Wetlands Initiative
- The EPA’s Wetlands: Protecting Life and Property from Flooding [PDF]
- Man Vs. Wetland [PDF], Arthur Melville Pearson, Outdoor Illinois
- National Wildlife Federation’s Everglades Restoration Work
- EcoMyths | Worldview segment featuring Sullivan and Maffei
Waterways in Chicagoland science + tips
hot chicago river science
- Water 2050: Northeastern Illinois Water Supply/Demand Plan, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
- Allocation of Supplementary Aeration Stations in the Chicago Waterway System for Dissolved Oxygen Improvement, Emre Alp and Charles Melching, Journal of Environmental Management, 2011
- Real-Time Wastewater System Operational Strategy Adaptation for Rainfall Variability, A.L. Zimmer, et. al., American Geophysical Union, 2010
- Nonpoint Pollution of Surface Waters with Phosphorus and Nitrogen [PDF], Stephen Carpenter et. al., Issues in Ecology, 1998
- Chicago Health, Environmental Exposure, and Recreation Study (CHEERS), Institute for Environmental Science and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2010
- S Water and Environment Wastewater Report 2009: Grade D- American Society of Civil Engineers
- Effluent Disinfection Report, Technology and Probable Cost, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, 2005
- Fecal Coliforms in Sewage Sludge (Biosolids) by Multiple-Tube Fermentation using Lauryl Tryptose Broth (LTB) and EC Medium, U.S. EPA, 2010
- Incorporating Uncertainty into the Ranking of SPARROW Model Nutrient Yields from the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin Watersheds, by Dale M. Robertson, Gregory E. Schwarz, David A. Saad, and Richard B. Alexander, U.S. Geological Survey
- Mississippi River Water Quality and the Clean Water Act: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities, Water Sciences and Technology Board, National Academies Press, 2008
- Gulf Of Mexico Dead Zone Smaller Than Expected, But Severe, Science Daily, 2009
- History of the Chicago diversion and future implications, SA and JM Changnon, Journal of Great Lakes Research, 1996
- Evaluation of pool-riffle naturalization structures on habitat complexity and the fish community in an urban Illinois stream, JS Schwartz and EE Herricks, River Research and Applications, 2007
cool chicago river tips
- Friends of the Chicago River Issues and Action
- Metropolitan Water Reclamation District on Effluent Disinfection
- Governor Quinn Announces Capital Funding to Disinfect the Chicago River, 2012
- Chicago and the Gulf Dead Zone: NRDC Lawsuits Address Downstream Damage, 2012
- American Rivers on the Chicago River
- Environmental Law and Policy Center
- National Resource Defense Council
- Openlands on Chicago River Disinfection
- Prairie Rivers Network
- Sierra Club Illinois Chapter
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- MWRD Board Adopts Policy to Disinfect Effluent from North Side and Calumet Plants
- Statement Regarding the Potential U.S. EPA Mandate to Disinfect Effluent from the MWRD’s Calumet and North Side Water Reclamation Plants
- The Chicago River: A Natural and Unnatural History, Libby Hill, Lake Claremont Press, 2002
- Our Illinois River: A Great River in Great Peril, Sierra Club, Heart of Illinois Group, 2002
- Biodiversity Recovery Plan, Chicago Region Biodiversity Council, 1999
- Catching the Rain: A Great Lakes Resource Guide to Natural Stormwater Management, American Rivers, 2004
- Model Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Ordinance: A Guide for Local Officials, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, 1991
- Illinois Department of Natural Resources Urban Fishing Clinics
- Windy City Fishing
hot lake michigan science
- Summer E-Coli Patterns and Patterns Along 23 Chicago Beaches, RL Whitman and MB Nevers, Environmental Science and Technology, 2008
- Foreshore Sand as a Source of Escherichia coli in Nearshore Water of Lake Michigan Beach, RL Whitman and MB Nevers, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2008
- Effects of the Nuisance Algae, Cladophora, on Escherichia coli at Recreational Beaches in Wisconsin, ET Englebert, C. McDermott, and GT Kleinheinz, Science of The Total Environment, 2008
cool lake michigan tips
- Lake County Health Department SwimCast Data
- Alliance for the Great Lakes Adopt-a-Beach
- US EPA Beach Sanitary Surveys
- Chicago Tap v. Bottled Water?, Monica Eng, Chicago Tribune, 2008
- Introduction to the Clean Water Act. U.S. EPA: Watershed Academy Web
- What’s on tap? Grading drinking water in U.S. cities (PDF), Natural Resources Defense Council
- U.S. EPA: Children and Drinking Water Standards
- The Vital Center: A Federal – State Compact to Renew the Great Lakes Region, John Austin, 2006
- Local investment in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence, Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Cities Initiative
- The International Joint Commission
- Flood Control and Drainage Arian R. Juhl, Encyclopedia of Chicago
- NIPC Environmental Overview Southern Lake Michigan Regional Water Supply Consortium
- City of Chicago Water Conservation Tips
- City of Chicago’s Rain Barrel Initiative
