Climate Change to have Marked Effects on Midwest According to New Report

ANN ARBOR—Climate change will lead to more frequent and more intense Midwest heat waves while degrading air and water quality and threatening public health. Intense rainstorms and floods will become more common, and existing risks to the Great Lakes will be exacerbated.

Those are some of the conclusions contained in the Midwest chapter of a draft report released last week by the federal government that assesses the key impacts of climate change on every region in the country and analyzes its likely effects on human health, water, energy, transportation, agriculture, forests, ecosystems and biodiversity.

Three University of Michigan researchers were lead convening authors of chapters in the 1,100-plus-page National Climate Assessment, which was written by a team of more than 240 scientists.

In the Midwest, extreme rainfall events and floods have become more common over the last century, and those trends are expected to continue, causing erosion, declining water quality and negative impacts on transportation, agriculture, human health and infrastructure, according to the report.

Climate change will likely worsen a host of existing problems in the Great Lakes, including changes in the range and distribution of important commercial and recreational fish species, increases in invasive species, declining beach health, and more frequent harmful algae blooms. However, declines in ice cover on the Great Lakes may lengthen the commercial shipping season.

The draft National Climate Assessment report is available at http://ncadac.globalchange.gov. A summary of associated technical input papers is available at www.glisa.umich.edu. Public comment on the draft report will be accepted through April 12.  The U of M news release is at http://www.ns.umich.edu/new/releases/21105-climate-change-to-profoundly-affect-the-midwest-new-report-says

ISEA and the Leelanau Conservancy will host a public seminar on climate change and invasive species on May 4, 3 pm at the Suttons Bay High School Auditorium.  More details on this event will be available soon.

This Week at ISEA

Monday Morning 1-9-2011 at ISEA



This Week at ISEA:

Tueday 1-10-12: ISEA Great Lakes Seminar on Climate Change and Great Lakes Water Levels.  7pm at the Education Center in Suttons Bay.  Free.

Wednesday 1-11-12: Great Lake Association of Science Ships meeting, Traverse City. 

Wednesday 1-11-12: ISEA Volunteer Instructor Training Class #2.  Free.  Call ISEA to register.

Thursday 1-13-12: Great Lakes Captain's Meeting, Traverse City.

Friday: 1-14-12: Great Lakes Captain's Meeting, Travrese City.

Friday: 1-14-12:  "Handy Billy" a great Maritime band will be performing live at Horizon Books on Friday, Jan. 13 at 8:30 pm - 10:30 pm. Come on down and plan to tap your toes, clap your hands, and join a sing-a-long or two.  Check out Handy Billy on Facebook. 

Next ISEA Great Lakes Seminar to Feature Climate Change and Lake Levels

Global Climate Change and the Changing Great Lakes Levels - Presented by Drew Gronewold

Remember last January?

Suttons Bay, MI – The Inland Seas Education Association will present a seminar focusing on the changing Great Lakes levels and Global Climate Change at 7:00pm on Tuesday, January 10th, at the Inland Seas Education Center in Suttons Bay. The program will be presented by Drew Gronewold, Hydrologist and Physical Scientist with NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor. This seminar is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is a federal agency focused on the condition of the oceans and the atmosphere. Groewold will be speaking about his research in the field as well as the implications from human activities.

A little bit about Drew Gronewold:
Education:
Ph.D., Duke University, Environmental Science and Policy, 2008
B.S., Cornell University, Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1995

Research Interests:
Hydrological and water quality modeling with a focus on propagating uncertainty and variability into model-based management decisions. Specific research areas include predicting runoff in ungauged basins, recreational water quality dynamics in Great Lakes Beaches, and incorporating probability theory and Bayesian statistics into watershed-scale forecasting models.

For further information contact the Inland Seas Education Association at (231) 271-3077 or on the web at http://www.schoolship.org/.

Climate Change and the Great Lakes

Get the climate change facts from Don Scavia at University of Michigan.  Don Scavia is Graham Family Professor and Director, Graham Sustainability Institute; Special Counsel to the U-M President on Sustainability; Professor, School of Natural Resources & Environment; and Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering. 

Prof. Don Scavia

This is a 33 minute video, so find some quality time for yourself, and you will be well rewarded for your interest.

Click here to begin the video Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region.

--Tom Kelly