How vividly I still recall the mnemonic "HOMES" we used in grade school geography class as a way of remembering the names of Canada's Great Lakes! And how much more profound this seems now, as we realize that indeed, they are, for many of us, our HOMES!

Yes, HOMES: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior!

I invite you to bring that understanding to your reading of this article from the Toronto Star.

"Lakes are warming much faster than the climate as a whole, the study says. Lake Superior is the second fastest warming lake studied.

"Our rapidly warming world has another high-profile victim - lakes, " said Raveena Aulakh.

"An alarming new study says that freshwater lakes are warming at more than twice the pace of the oceans, and Lake Superior is the second-fastest warming lake studied, behind Sweden's Lake Fracksjon.

"The rest of the Great Lakes are also faring dismally, the study says, putting native fish in jeopardy, increasing the risk of invasive species and raising fears of widespread algae blooms." Read on...