Minnesota compared to Wisconsin and Michigan (Minnetonka: living, design, oil)

[SnowPrincess]

This is an interesting topic for me being from west Michigan. I would like to relocate to Minn eventually so it's nice to read comparisions.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by Ghengis

bs, unless you are counting puddles too.

He's right. Three million lakes. Alaska Hydrologic Survey

Now, agreed that some of them are probably pretty darn small, but we do that too. Wing Lake, Hennepin County, Minnesota, USA - Maps, Photos, Weather, Local Links

[Gibbous Moon]

Originally Posted by Ghengis

bs, unless you are counting puddles too.

Alaska has 3,000,000+ lakes 20 acres in size or larger:
About Alaska

Minnesota has 11,842 lakes 10 acres in size or larger:
Lakes, rivers & wetlands: Minnesota Facts & Figures: Minnesota DNR

Is it really that big a deal being accurate in claims? I just found it amusing that anyone with even a cursory knowledge of American geography could think that Alaska has more shoreline (however defined) than... well, than any other state.

People seem emotionally vested in this idea that state X is better than State Y because it has more Z. Strange. I'd much rather live right here in Minnesota than in Alaska for a variety of reasons, so it doesn't bother me in the slightest that Alaska has more lakes (sorry, puddles!) or shoreline than Minnesota. Why would it bother me? But it bothers some people.

Very strange indeed...

[rock_chalk]

Originally Posted by golfgal

MN has more shoreline then any state in the union, including Florida and Alaska. No one swims in Lake Superior, but they do in most of the 15,000+ other lakes in MN.

Minnesota has a total shoreline of 90,000 miles. (http://www.state.mn.us/portal/mn/jsp/content.do?id=-8542&subchannel=null&sc2=null&sc3=null&contentid=5 36881431&contenttype=EDITORIAL&programid=536888179 &agency=NorthStar - broken link) Alaska has over 3 million lakes greater than 20 acres in size. Assuming that all 3 million are exactly 20 acres and have the smallest possible perimeter (circular shape), we have:

20 acres = 0.03125 square miles
0.03125 = pi*r^2
so r = 0.09974 miles
2*pi*r = 0.6267 miles
0.6267 * 3 million = 1.88 million miles

The real figure is of course much higher.

In short, you're wrong.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

He's right. Three million lakes. Alaska Hydrologic Survey

Now, agreed that some of them are probably pretty darn small, but we do that too. Wing Lake, Hennepin County, Minnesota, USA - Maps, Photos, Weather, Local Links

sorry, just sayin' it don't make it true and the lake nerds up there just threw out a number knowing they really didn't have to prove a thing.

However as a comparison, Canada is 6 times the size of Alaska. Any casual glance at a map would show they have way more lakes then Alaska and yet they are only claiming 2 to 3 million lakes themselves. So unless Alaska is also counting the pools on the cruise ships sailing up and down the coast, it ain't true.

Discover Canada's Lakes

The Atlas of Canada - Physical Components of Watersheds

[Gibbous Moon]

Originally Posted by Ghengis

sorry, just sayin' it don't make it true and the lake nerds up there just threw out a number knowing they really didn't have to prove a thing.

However as a comparison, Canada is 6 times the size of Alaska. Any casual glance at a map would show they have way more lakes then Alaska and yet they are only claiming 2 to 3 million lakes themselves. So unless Alaska is also counting the pools on the cruise ships sailing up and down the coast, it ain't true.

Discover Canada's Lakes

The Atlas of Canada - Physical Components of Watersheds

Oh, yes, anyone who disagrees with you is a 'lake nerd' who made up a number. And, of course, that's false-- we both provided citations. But I suppose it sounds better just to claim we 'threw out a number' 'cause, ya know, 'winning' an argument is so much more important than being honest...

Anyway, you responded by... providing a citation that did not contradict our claims. Brilliant...

Why does the number of lakes found in Alaska upset you so?

Very strange...

[rock_chalk]

Originally Posted by Ghengis

sorry, just sayin' it don't make it true and the lake nerds up there just threw out a number knowing they really didn't have to prove a thing.

However as a comparison, Canada is 6 times the size of Alaska. Any casual glance at a map would show they have way more lakes then Alaska and yet they are only claiming 2 to 3 million lakes themselves. So unless Alaska is also counting the pools on the cruise ships sailing up and down the coast, it ain't true.

Discover Canada's Lakes

The Atlas of Canada - Physical Components of Watersheds

I won't defend the 3 million figure because I don't know how it was estimated.

Even under the ultraconservative method I employed, Alaska needs only 150,000 lakes of 20 acres or more to exceed Minnesota's shoreline figure. If you consider ocean shoreline, it needs only 90,000.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by rock_chalk

I won't defend the 3 million figure because I don't know how it was estimated.

Even under the ultraconservative method I employed, Alaska needs only 150,000 lakes of 20 acres or more to exceed Minnesota's shoreline figure. If you consider ocean shoreline, it needs only 90,000.

I never said that Alaska's lakes don't dwarf the number of Minnesota's or any other states' for that matter. I wouldn't even doubt that it has more lakes than all of the lower 48 combined. I also never said anything about shoreline and I think the comparison Golfgal flubbed, relates to MN shoreline as compared to Florida + California + Hawaii.

Still, unless one wants to maintain that Alaska has more lakes than Canada, that number is no where close to the 3,000,000 that is so casually stated as fact by people too gullible to question whatever they happen to read.

[golfgal]

Ok, it should have been the most shoreline in the CONTINENTAL US...not Alaska..

[northstar22]

Originally Posted by SnowPrincess

This is an interesting topic for me being from west Michigan. I would like to relocate to Minn eventually so it's nice to read comparisions.

I'm also from West Michigan, and I prefer Michigan to Minnesota. MI has the Great Lakes, and the winters are much milder due to the lake effect. Plus, Minnesota is overly family-oriented, which may or may not be a problem depending on your perspective.