There is a good probability that your vacation time is running out now that Summer’s peak has passed and school is about to start up again. There are several locations in the US where you may go and enjoy sports like swimming, canoeing, or kayaking. Although you may have been blissfully oblivious of the risks these unspoiled natural wonders pose, you may have visited some of the Great Lakes in the county’s northern region.
Four years ago, Mike Shoreman lost all of his mobility.
Doctors said he’d never paddleboard again.
This weekend, he became the first person with a disability to paddle board across the Great Lakes, raising $64,000 for mental health programs. pic.twitter.com/kboXtIHBgx
— Goodable (@Goodable) August 25, 2022
A total of 95 deaths have occurred in the lakes thus far in 2022. Although there are a few cases that remain mysterious, drowning accounts for the vast majority of these fatalities. There have been 38 drownings in just Lake Michigan.
According to Amber Twardy of ABC57 News, “Other Great Lakes have similar dangers to those of Lake Michigan, but fewer sandy beaches for people to visit with millions of tourists visiting the lake each year,” Lake Michigan has been responsible for about 45 percent of Great Lakes drownings this year, more than double the death toll of any other Great Lake. Visitors to Lake Michigan also have to deal with the lake’s deadly riptides and powerful currents.
Why are the Great Lakes so hazardous throughout?
The lakes are very polluted. More than 22 million pounds (almost 10 million kg) of plastic waste are dumped in them each year, according to the Rochester Institute of Technology. The fact that 40 million people rely on these same lakes for their drinking water is very concerning for people.
The Great Lakes are warming faster than the oceans. Our Inflation Reduction Law will help protect them for generations to come. pic.twitter.com/tGpzKtBO1V
— Sen. Debbie Stabenow (@SenStabenow) August 23, 2022
The risk of consuming microplastics in drinking water is that they can produce a variety of hazardous compounds, including cancer. The study that was published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials was headed by Evangelos Danopoulos of Hull York Medical School in the UK. “Harmful impacts on cells are in many cases the initial event for health repercussions,” he added. “We ought to be worried. There isn’t really a means to shield ourselves [against microplastics] at the moment.
