With the cold temperatures today I thought this topic would be fitting. Here is a picture of the frozen Great Lakes on Wednesday at 80.29% frozen. At its peak of 88.42.% on February 12-13 it was the most frozen it has been since 1994 (or before you were born). With cold temperatures today and this weekend it should freeze even more.
Two articles to read here but they are short:
http://www.midlandbaysailing.org/links.html
http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/stunning-images-of-frozen-great-lakes-captured-from-space-1.1699152
Think about this:
1) What impact will this have on the Great Lakes and the regions surrounding it?
2) How will this affect the water levels?
3) How is this a world issue?
4) How does this fuel the fire for global warming nay sayers?
This is my post for the week:
ReplyDeleteThe intense freezing of the greats lakes is both fascinating and devastating to the regions around. As people get to explore great things like ice caverns and do things like ice fishing, the record freezing doesn't seem so bad, but there are some problems with it.
As the lakes freeze more deeply, transportation of goods around the great lakes becomes increasingly more difficult and slow. This costs shipping companies money and late delivery's can cause problems in many industries. As for affects of the freezing to ecosystems, i wasn't convinced it was so bad. As much as I could tell, a few migratory bird species had to turn away from the great white north and head a bit further south in search of mating grounds. This may have a long term effect on the food chain with predators leaving and rodents sticking out the cold.
The water levels could be a big problem in the spring as this winter has proven to had a lot of snowfall. When the spring thaw does come, the effects will be seen in full but my hopes are they can divert water into lakes that have been historically low and compensate for the heavy snowfall.
I do not believe this is a global world issue but definitely something lingering in the minds of some Canadians who have cottages on these beautiful lakes. I do not believe this is global warming as our earth goes though natural cycles often, this just happens to be one of the colder winters, simple as that.
here is a cool article where a climatologist shows the facts about how the lakes have been more frozen before and global warming (if it exists) clearly started much earlier than most people thing.
http://www.torontosun.com/2014/03/01/great-lakes-80-frozen-over-nasa-image-show
I found it interesting when you mentioned all the transport of industries would be affected by this problem. I never thought about it that way. At the same time, I would have to disagree with you when you said it had nothing to do with global warming. There are actually many scientists who prove that global warming causes both the heating of our planet but also very harsh winters(http://www.wunderground.com/news/global-warming-winters-20130328) With that said, I would definitely say this issue will touch the world since it has so much to do with climate change.
DeleteThis is my weekly post,
ReplyDeleteThis winter Canada and the United States have seen the coldest weather in generations, and the freezing of our great lakes. Similar to what Adrian was saying about transportation, the great lakes are a huge part of the transportation of goods and the flash freezing both these countries have seen is going to cost companies money and make the actual transportation more difficult.
Canada and the United states have not only seen snow these past months, the weather has been bad in other ways also. A lot of provinces and states have seen freezing rain, flash freezing caused after the temperature warmed back up and then plummeted again and extreme winds. For example, the 96 car accident we saw last week on the 400 where blowing snow caused limited visibility and the sun then turned the snow into black ice.
My greatest concern that has come from this winter is what is going to happen when everything melts. For example, I ride horses outdoors year round and recently from the temperature going slightly over zero, the barn and parts of fields were flooded and then flash frozen again causing everything to be covered in ice which becomes extremely dangerous. If we see that everywhere, there will be problems with buildings, roads and more. It is also already predicted that the water levels of the great lakes will rise. The lakes will be cooler during the summer and the drastic change in levels would damage aquatic ecosystems and affect trade.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/much-of-canada-us-grappling-with-severe-winter-weather/article16203415/
http://statenews.com/article/2014/01/water-levels-in-great-lakes-could-rise
Its interesting that you bring the thawing and freezing problem up. That is so true! when the snow/ice all melts and re-freezes it will destroy roads and even buildings from the expansions of the water freezing and cause lot of damage and therefore money for the cities effected.
DeleteYa i agree with Adrian, its interesting that you brought up the issues with thawing and frezzing, because it can be so dangerous! It especially affects road conditions, every day life, and the number of massive pot holes around the city (which are awful, we all hate them). It costs the city a lot of money, and also citizens every where.
DeleteI agree with you Anelli, but I do have to wonder if a raise in the water levels of the great lakes would really be such a bad thing. My grand parents have a cottage on Georgian Bay where we spend most of the summer. The water levels there have dropped drastically due to the St. Clair River. I remember as a child hiking to the tadpole pond to catch some tadpoles to take back to school with us, and gathering up all the weeds to feed them on the way. We used to take the canoe through there too, because it would just need a little lift over the rocks, into the pond, in order to cross the island easily, but now the pond is pretty much gone. So for me, and the tadpoles I guess, I don’t think it really would be such a bad thing.
DeleteThis is a link with more information on the drop: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/weeds-and-rocks-litter-dry-ground-as-georgian-bays-water-levels-sink/article13468821/
This is my weekly post;
ReplyDeleteMost years i am the type of person who loves Winter with all of my heart, however this year proved to be much different; what with the FREEZING temperatures and icy cold wind lashing against my face constantly. I can only imagine what people up North have been going through this season. It wasn't until i read these articles that i was able to understand just how cold it has been.
In some ways it makes me happy because we are finally able to prove that global warming cannot be that bad if our lakes are 88% frozen in February no less. It's also positive due to the fact that people are able to visit the ice caves, go ice fishing, and with all of this tourism comes a stronger economy. However, there are of course negative side effects to the frozen great lakes. Such as econimic issues due to the problems boats will have trying to export/import goods, which could result in late deliveries or extra costs. There is also the problems with freezing eco systems, which results in some of the migratory birds having to go somewhere else for the winter and to also mate. This can be bad in the future because it will change the food chain in the areas where the birds used to migrate to, and also where they have started to migrate.
I dont feel that this is a world issue as of now, but perhaps when Spring comes around it may be due to the mass amounts of water that will be there as a result of the thick ice and snow. This is will affect eco systems, the transportation of goods due to possible flooding, and also on every day life for the people who live near the great lakes.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/ice-caves-on-frozen-great-lakes-provide-a-hot-draw-for-winter-tourists-1.1709642
http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2014/02/14/icy-great-lakes/5478697/ :)
i agree with you samira ! i didn't even think about how this extremely cold winter would be affecting most country's imports and exports and subsequently their overall economy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nick, hadn't had thought about the trade affected, I would have thought that if it did there would have been a lot more news stories covering it.
DeleteThis is my weekly post:
ReplyDeleteWith such ice forming around the great lakes I wonder if this will affect the spring time flooding in low lying areas. I would believe that the frozen water would positively affect the flooding as it would reduce the amount of lake effect snow because the water is simply covered. Therefore not allowing the water to be evaporated into the air. Yet would the sudden melting of the ice overwhelm the waterways and cause in some flooding in low lying areas.
The possible benefits in the deep freeze of the lakes go beyond just the spring time flooding, the ice has also created amazing caves that are attracting tourists to explore. Such caves have existed in the past few years but never at the scale that they are currently at.
http://www.wbay.com/story/24846648/2014/02/27/lingering-cold-could-produce-spring-floods
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/16/us-usa-weather-caves-idUSBREA1F0R720140216