report on global warming & Great Lakes
ANN ARBOR, MI (May 28, 2008)—The Great Lakes can lessen the impact
of global warming or become global warming’s victim—it all depends on
Congress, according to a new report from the Healing Our Waters®-Great
Lakes Coalition. The authors urged Congress to enact a comprehensive
plan to restore the health of the Great Lakes.
“Great Lakes Restoration & the Threat of Global Warming”
synthesizes current climate change science and presents the likely
impacts warming temperatures will have on the lakes, including lower
lake levels, more sewage overflows, and increased pressure to divert
Great Lakes water. The report describes the following likely impacts:
• Daily high temperatures in the region will increase 5.4 to 10.8
degrees relative to what was typical from 1961-1990, with wintertime
temperatures increasing even more than summer temperatures.
• Increased evaporation from warming lakes—particularly in winter—is expected to result in less ice cover, contributing to lower water levels and increases in lake-effect snow.
• Lake levels could drop during the next century by approximately 1 foot on Lake Superior, 3 feet on Lakes Michigan and Huron, 2.7 feet on Lake Erie, and 1.7 feet on Lake Ontario.
• Water quality will likely worsen as more intense storm events will send polluted urban and agricultural runoff to our waterways, leading to drinking water impacts, beach closings, and higher costs to water suppliers.
• Biological dead zones will increase, jeopardizing fish and other aquatic life.
• Great Lakes forests and grasslands will change as plants adapted to the area confront increasingly unsuitable habitat. The ranges of some plants and animals will shift northward, while other creatures will vanish.
• Increased evaporation from warming lakes—particularly in winter—is expected to result in less ice cover, contributing to lower water levels and increases in lake-effect snow.
• Lake levels could drop during the next century by approximately 1 foot on Lake Superior, 3 feet on Lakes Michigan and Huron, 2.7 feet on Lake Erie, and 1.7 feet on Lake Ontario.
• Water quality will likely worsen as more intense storm events will send polluted urban and agricultural runoff to our waterways, leading to drinking water impacts, beach closings, and higher costs to water suppliers.
• Biological dead zones will increase, jeopardizing fish and other aquatic life.
• Great Lakes forests and grasslands will change as plants adapted to the area confront increasingly unsuitable habitat. The ranges of some plants and animals will shift northward, while other creatures will vanish.
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