<story><title>Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?</title><url>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/great-lakes-inland-seas</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>lettergram</author><text>&amp;gt; In this climate change age&lt;p&gt;The Great Lakes only exist because the massive ice sheet melted and left the lakes as a deposit some 10-15,000 years ago.&lt;p&gt;I wouldn’t be surprised if in a few thousand years the lakes largely dissipate.&lt;p&gt;That said I grew up near the lake, definitely something that’s awesome to live near</text></item><item><author>godtoldmetodoit</author><text>I grew up in south west Michigan and absolutely took them for granted. After almost 5 years in Austin we decided to come back to Michigan with the birth of our first child. I missed the lakes terribly, just totally took for granted that not everywhere has fresh water surrounding them on all sides.&lt;p&gt;In this climate change age, being close to so much fresh water really helps calm my nerves knowing that I am in a spot that will be able to weather the changes better then most and possibly become a refuge for more people.</text></item><item><author>cmrdporcupine</author><text>Seas or not, I love the lakes and the land around them, in the 20+ years since I moved myself here they&amp;#x27;ve taken over my heart. I&amp;#x27;m from the aspen parkland of central Alberta; thin trees, dry air, small muddy leach-infested kettle lakes, big skies, poplar and birch land. When I was 8 we did a trip across Canada, and I remember us camping by the shores of Superior when a massive thunderstorm came rolling in, and it left a lifelong impression on me. When I was 16 I did an exchange with a family in rural Ontario near Huron, and the moment I saw the rolling green hills, the maples and oaks, the cyan waters of Huron lapping against the limestone, the heavy humid air, the wild grapes crawling on every fence, I was sold. In my early 20s I moved to Toronto for work, and I&amp;#x27;ve been near Lake Ontario since. I&amp;#x27;m an atheist, a materialist... but there&amp;#x27;s something deeply spiritual about the Great Lakes, powerful and intimidating like the ocean but more accomodating in their fresh water and the fact that massive as they are, they&amp;#x27;re more finite than the ocean. My wife participated in an archaeological dig down on some low flat lands near the shore, on a calm inland bay near here some years ago. The ceramic cookware, the copious fish bones, the arrowheads and fish hooks, it was fascinating how the lake has been giving rich life to people here for thousands of years; in fact so diminished now from what it was then when fish were more abundant.&lt;p&gt;They&amp;#x27;re pretty awesome, these lakes. I am not sure people who grow up next to them (like my kids) appreciate what they are in the same way?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>bregma</author><text>The depths of all the lakes except Eerie are below mean sea level. It would require a prolonged period of new orogeny for the lakes to disappear. Since that hasn&amp;#x27;t happened in a few billion years in the area, it&amp;#x27;s more likely that the sun will expand to encompass the orbit of the Earth and vapourize the entire planet first.&lt;p&gt;Hardly something that will happen in a few thousand years. But you never know.</text></comment>
<story><title>Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?</title><url>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/great-lakes-inland-seas</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>lettergram</author><text>&amp;gt; In this climate change age&lt;p&gt;The Great Lakes only exist because the massive ice sheet melted and left the lakes as a deposit some 10-15,000 years ago.&lt;p&gt;I wouldn’t be surprised if in a few thousand years the lakes largely dissipate.&lt;p&gt;That said I grew up near the lake, definitely something that’s awesome to live near</text></item><item><author>godtoldmetodoit</author><text>I grew up in south west Michigan and absolutely took them for granted. After almost 5 years in Austin we decided to come back to Michigan with the birth of our first child. I missed the lakes terribly, just totally took for granted that not everywhere has fresh water surrounding them on all sides.&lt;p&gt;In this climate change age, being close to so much fresh water really helps calm my nerves knowing that I am in a spot that will be able to weather the changes better then most and possibly become a refuge for more people.</text></item><item><author>cmrdporcupine</author><text>Seas or not, I love the lakes and the land around them, in the 20+ years since I moved myself here they&amp;#x27;ve taken over my heart. I&amp;#x27;m from the aspen parkland of central Alberta; thin trees, dry air, small muddy leach-infested kettle lakes, big skies, poplar and birch land. When I was 8 we did a trip across Canada, and I remember us camping by the shores of Superior when a massive thunderstorm came rolling in, and it left a lifelong impression on me. When I was 16 I did an exchange with a family in rural Ontario near Huron, and the moment I saw the rolling green hills, the maples and oaks, the cyan waters of Huron lapping against the limestone, the heavy humid air, the wild grapes crawling on every fence, I was sold. In my early 20s I moved to Toronto for work, and I&amp;#x27;ve been near Lake Ontario since. I&amp;#x27;m an atheist, a materialist... but there&amp;#x27;s something deeply spiritual about the Great Lakes, powerful and intimidating like the ocean but more accomodating in their fresh water and the fact that massive as they are, they&amp;#x27;re more finite than the ocean. My wife participated in an archaeological dig down on some low flat lands near the shore, on a calm inland bay near here some years ago. The ceramic cookware, the copious fish bones, the arrowheads and fish hooks, it was fascinating how the lake has been giving rich life to people here for thousands of years; in fact so diminished now from what it was then when fish were more abundant.&lt;p&gt;They&amp;#x27;re pretty awesome, these lakes. I am not sure people who grow up next to them (like my kids) appreciate what they are in the same way?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>khuey</author><text>The Great Lakes will eventually go away, but not for the reason you think. Niagara Falls is eroding its way upstream and will eventually reach Lake Erie, at which point Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan will all drain away downstream.</text></comment>