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Water levels
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Water level ups and downs


With roughly 6 quadrillion gallons, the Great Lakes are the largest freshwater system in the world. The exact amount of water is constantly in flux as water levels rise and fall. The primary culprits are evaporation and rainfall. Too much or little of either can trigger extreme changes in water levels – an increasingly common occurrence as climate change brings hotter and wetter weather to the region.

When water levels are at their lowest, like they were in 2013, fish and other aquatic wildlife are pushed out of nearshore habitats. The loss of water also takes a toll on industries that rely heavily on the Great Lakes to ship bulk goods like iron, coal, and salt. To safely navigate shallower waters, shipping companies are forced to lighten the loads on ships and barges, making lake travel less efficient and more expensive.

And above-average water levels bring problems of their own. In fact, record highs in the 1980s led to raging waves that smashed into shorelines and flooded lakeside property. .
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