Climate Change and Lake Superior

Bonfire beside Lake Michigan. Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore. Photo by R.A. Bartle ~Enlarge

A recent report from the Large Lake Observatory of the University of Minnesota-Duluth caught my eye.  Tucked inside was a piece on observations of Lake Superior temperature trends.

The key finding was that traditionally frigid Lake Superior is in recent decades warming about two degrees F per decade compared with a warmup of one degree F in air temperature per decade. The explanation for the warming water appears to be a long-term trend of declining ice cover, which permits quicker and more pronounced warmup by sunlight.

Interestingly, higher winds, helping drive the surface layer deeper, may also be contributing.

It's not proof of climate change, but it's a sign of what could happen.  A warmer Lake Superior ain't the same Lake Superior.

Go here and click on "Report 2010."