Heavy Michigan rains close GM tech center, affect other automakers

Reuters: Heavy rains in southeast Michigan hit the operations of U.S. automakers in the region, including forcing the closure of General Motors Co's technical center outside Detroit Detroit city officials said Monday night's heavy rainfall was the most rain the city had seen in almost nine decades. It caused flooding, power losses and road closures, including parts of several major highways.

GM's technical center in Warren, Michigan, was closed after flooding caused loss of power in parts of the campus, a spokeswoman said. GM and contractors employ about 19,000 people there in various functions. including research and development, design, engineering, information technology and customer satisfaction.

The employees were told to work from home or other remote locations while the No. 1 U.S. automaker worked to get the technical center reopened, the spokeswoman said. No timetable was available on when that would be.

GM said there had been no impact on any of its plants in the region. Ford Motor Co said some plant operations were affected Monday night, including production slowdowns at the Dearborn, Michigan, truck and stamping plants; an assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan; the Sterling, Michigan, axle and transmission plants; and a stamping plant in Woodhaven, Michigan.

Additionally, a spokeswoman said the No.2 U.S. automaker's Chicago and Kentucky assembly plants experienced some production interruptions due to flooding at Michigan-based suppliers, but all Ford plants were operating on normal schedules.

Chrysler Group, a unit of Italy's Fiat, said four of its plants in Michigan had been affected by flooding. The unit said it also had higher-than-normal worker absenteeism and slowed deliveries due to road.

A satellite image of Detroit by http://www.terraprints.com, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license

Straits of Mackinac ‘worst possible place’ for a Great Lakes oil spill

University of Michigan News: Because the strong currents in the Straits of Mackinac reverse direction every few days, a rupture of the oil pipeline beneath the channel would quickly contaminate shorelines miles away in both lakes Michigan and Huron, according to a new University of Michigan study commissioned by the National Wildlife Federation.

In one scenario examined in the study and accompanying animations, oil from a hypothetical pipeline break reached Mackinac Island and Round Island after 12 hours and Bois Blanc Island after two days. All three islands are in westernmost Lake Huron, just east of the straits.

Within 20 days of a spill in the Straits of Mackinac -- which separates Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas and connects lakes Michigan and Huron -- oil would spread as far west as Beaver Island in Lake Michigan, a distance of roughly 35 miles, and as far southeast as Rogers City in Lake Huron, a distance of about 50 miles, according to the computer-simulation study released today and conducted by hydrodynamics expert David Schwab of the U-M Water Center.

The area around the 5-mile-wide straits is considered ecologically sensitive and is a major tourist draw. "If you were to pick the worst possible place for an oil spill in the Great Lakes, this would be it," Schwab said. "The currents are powerful and change direction frequently. In the event of an oil spill, these factors would lead to a big mess that would be very difficult to contain."

Just west of the Mackinac Bridge, two 20-inch underwater pipes carry 23 million gallons of crude oil daily through the straits. The 61-year-old pipeline is operated by Enbridge Inc.

..."Any material released into the straits will go into both Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, which would complicate containment efforts," Schwab said. "Hopefully, these simulations and animations will be useful in understanding and preparing for potential impacts."...

Under the Mackinac Bridge crossing the Straits of Mackinac, shot by varnent, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Common ground fosters climate change understanding

Michigan State University Newsroom: Grasping the concept of climate change and its impact on the environment can be difficult. Establishing common ground and using models, however, can break down barriers and present the concept in an easily understood manner.

In a presentation today during the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Michigan State University systems ecologist and modeler Laura Schmitt-Olabisi shows how system dynamics models effectively communicate the challenges and implications of climate change.

“In order to face the ongoing challenges posed by climate adaptation, there is a need for tools that can foster dialogue across traditional boundaries, such as those between scientists, the general public and decision makers,” Schmitt-Olabisi said. “Using boundary objects, such as maps, diagrams and models, all groups involved can use these objects to have a discussion to create possible solutions.”

Schmitt-Olabisi has vast experience working directly with stakeholders using participatory model-building techniques. She uses a model of a hypothetical heat wave in Detroit to illustrate the implications of climate change.

...“The model challenges some widely held assumptions, such as the belief that opening more cooling centers is the best solution,” Schmitt-Olabisi said. “As it turns out, these centers are useless if people don’t know they should go to them.”

More importantly, the model provides a tool, a language that everyone can understand. It is a positive example of how system dynamics models may be used as boundary objects to adapt to climate change, she added....

Detroit's skyline at night, shot by Shakil Mustafa, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license 

US public supports programs helping farmers adapt to climate change

Michigan State University News: A survey conducted by Michigan State University reveals strong public support for government programs to assist farmers to adapt to climate change.

According to NASA research, global temperatures have been rising for decades, and it’s affecting all aspects of agriculture. Regardless of what those surveyed believe causes climate change, more than 65 percent of them support government assistance for farmers, said Scott Loveridge, MSU professor of agricultural, food and resource economics.

This year has been a particularly harsh example. This summer’s drought is wreaking havoc on much of the nation’s row crops, and close to one-third of states’ counties have been declared natural disaster areas and are seeking federal aid. In Michigan, record-setting temperatures in March prompted fruit trees to blossom. Freezing weather in April wiped out nearly all of the state’s fruit crops.

Farmers are feeling the impact now, and consumers are already seeing increased food prices, which are projected to get worse. In these tight economic times, empathy doesn’t automatically translate to support for financial assistance. So Loveridge was surprised how many people support the notion of financial assistance for farmers.

“I didn’t expect the strong level of public support for helping farmers adjust their production techniques to long-term changes in the climate,” he said. “The overall support is likely strongly linked to concerns about recent food price fluctuations, long-term food security or recognition of agriculture’s contributions to the economy.”....

Hay rolls in a field near Lodi, Michigan, shot by Dwight Burdette, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license

Flood insurance bringing a deluge of complaints in Michigan

Todd Spangler, Peggy Walsh-Sarnecki And Kathleen Gray in the Detroit Free Press cover an issue that we'll be seeing more in the future: …Lake levels are down all over the Great Lakes region and premiums are up for the mandatory insurance for holders of federally backed mortgages in designated flood zones. But to many, flooding in southeastern Michigan is a distant memory, even as they watched fresh scenes last week of catastrophic flooding in Arkansas and Missouri.

With the Great Lakes at low levels, many Michiganders -- including U.S. Rep. Candice Miller -- are up in arms, saying they believe they're paying for billions of losses on the gulf coast and demanding an end to the National Flood Insurance Program. Don't count on it: The insurance industry won't take on the risks, and without the protection, many waterfront properties would be unmarketable.

And just because a flood hasn't happened in decades doesn't mean there is no risk. Chances of Great Lakes flooding may be slim in 2011, but that could change with a few years of heavy snow and rain in the lakes' vast drainage basin.

"This is cyclical. It will change," said Larry Larson, executive director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers. "Therein is the problem: People think 15 years is a long time."
Low lake levels and higher premiums have many Michiganders steamed about flood insurance…

…And although angry Michiganders may be misguided on some points, such as believing their premiums are paying for coastal flooding from hurricanes, including Katrina and the rest from the destructive 2005 season, they have legitimate gripes. One fair allegation is that some homes with less risk are lumped with those that have more….

Frozen Lake St. Clair in Michigan, shot by MJCdetroit, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license