As Great Lakes Lose Water, Cargo Carriers Lose Money

Water levels in the Great Lakes are falling. Lake Ontario, for example, is about seven inches below where it was a year ago. And for every inch of water that the lakes lose, the ships that ferry bulk materials across them must lighten their loads by 270 tons — or 540,000 pounds — or risk running aground, according to the Lake Carriers’ Association, a trade group for United States-flag cargo companies.


As a result, Fernanda Santos reports from the port of Oswego, more ships are needed, adding millions of dollars to shipping companies’ operating costs. Most environmental researchers say that low precipitation, mild winters and high evaporation, due largely to a lack of heavy ice covers to shield cold lake waters from the warmer air above, are depleting the lakes. The International Joint Commission, which advises the United States and Canada on water resources, is conducting a $17 million, five-year study to determine whether the shrinking of the Great Lakes is related to the seasonal rise-and-fall cycles or is a result of climate change.

Manhattan welcomes 720,000 Ladybugs, as killers

Imagine this spectacle in the middle of Manhattan: 720,000 ladybugs from Montana, on the attack.

The red-and-black creatures have purposely been released into the greenery of one of New York's biggest apartment complexes _ a sprawling 40-acres of high rises on the East Side. These normally gentle ladybugs have a mission: to harm and destroy pests infesting the neatly landscaped property.

The bugs from Bozeman arrived at the Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village complex Thursday afternoon, packed in boxes shipped by a natural gardening company.