• picture
  • picture
  • picture
  • picture
Public Radio's Environmental News Magazine (follow us on Google News)

The Living on Earth Almanac

Air Date: Week of



Transcript

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood

(Music up and under: Harmonica Gold, "The Sidewalks of New York")

CURWOOD: One hundred and forty-five winters ago, a bridge of ice linked Brooklyn and Manhattan, not far from where the present-day Brooklyn Bridge now reaches. The East River ice bridge put a halt to ferry runs on the cold, cold night of February 10th, 1856. One icebound boat was stranded for six hours. It hasn't gotten cold enough to form an ice bridge in New York City lately, but the frozen structures remain a part of the winter commute and custom in other parts of the country.

(Music up and under: Budgie, "Melt The Ice Away")

CURWOOD: On Mackinaw Island in Michigan's Lake Huron, the formation of the ice bridge to the mainland is a nearly annual event. As soon as the ice over the strait is deemed thick enough, residents mark out a highway across the ice using Christmas trees as borders. And snowmobiles become the fast track to and from the mainland. Travelers can also cross the four-mile bridge on foot. The Mackinaw ice bridge may last for only a few days or endure for up to two months. And unlike usual ferry or plane service, crossing the ice bridge is toll-free. And for this week, that's the Living on Earth Almanac.

(Music up and under: Budgie, "Melt The Ice Away")

 

 

Living on Earth wants to hear from you!

Living on Earth
62 Calef Highway, Suite 212
Lee, NH 03861
Telephone: 617-287-4121
E-mail: comments@loe.org

Newsletter [Click here]

Donate to Living on Earth!
Living on Earth is an independent media program and relies entirely on contributions from listeners and institutions supporting public service. Please donate now to preserve an independent environmental voice.

Newsletter
Living on Earth offers a weekly delivery of the show's rundown to your mailbox. Sign up for our newsletter today!

Sailors For The Sea: Be the change you want to sea.

Creating positive outcomes for future generations.

Innovating to make the world a better, more sustainable place to live. Listen to the race to 9 billion

The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment: Committed to protecting and improving the health of the global environment.

Contribute to Living on Earth and receive, as our gift to you, an archival print of one of Mark Seth Lender's extraordinary wildlife photographs. Follow the link to see Mark's current collection of photographs.

Buy a signed copy of Mark Seth Lender's book Smeagull the Seagull & support Living on Earth