April Twin Ports Climate Conversations: Green Shipping on the Great Lakes

Twin Ports Climate Conversations is a program that offers the opportunity for community dialogue about questions of climate change during quarterly webinars. This session is on green shipping in the Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Seaway stretches 2,342 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to North America’s furthest-inland seaport, the Port of Duluth-Superior. The network of 110 ports within this system are highly interconnected and interdependent. A disruption that affects a single port, whether the result of a natural disaster or other unforeseen circumstance, can surge throughout the supply chain.

Within the Great Lakes in recent years there have been increasing observations of more extreme fluctuation in water levels, warmer surface water temperatures and less ice cover, more dynamic currents and sediment transport, increased flooding, and coastal inundation.

This presentation provides an introduction to the Great Lakes maritime transportation system, shares research on the efficiency of waterborne transportation, and discusses potential affects to shipping due to natural hazards. Participants can learn how the industry is navigating toward the future and supporting sustainability in the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Seaway through the efforts of the Great Lakes Green Shipping Corridor Network and portside through Duluth Seaway Port Authority’s Climate Action Plan.

The webinar is free to attend, but advance registration is required at seagrant.umn.edu.