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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 18322
[Environmental]
Date Posted:
8/3/2007
5:50:45 pm EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 5,839
RSS: 15,141
Comments: 9
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Lake Superior Changes Mystify Scientists
Author: John Flesher, AP Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Title: LAKE SUPERIOR CHANGES MYSTIFY SCIENTISTS
Deep enough to hold the combined water in all the other Great Lakes and with a surface area as large as South Carolina, Lake Superior's size has lent it an aura of invulnerability. But the mighty Superior is losing water and getting warmer, worrying those who live near its shores, scientists and companies that rely on the lake for business.
The changes to the lake could be signs of climate change, although scientists aren't sure.
Superior's level is at its lowest point in eight decades and will set a record this fall if, as expected, it dips three more inches. Meanwhile, the average water temperature has surged 4.5 degrees since 1979, significantly above the 2.7-degree rise in the region's air temperature during the same period.
That's no small deal for a freshwater sea that was created from glacial melt as the Ice Age ended and remains chilly in all seasons.
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Community Thoughts: There are 9 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| With Or Without Us.. | Aug 4th. at 12:14:55 pm EDT
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Witch of the Parchment (Tucson, Arizona) - Email Me
Earth is going to do as she pleases. Long before we little humans came along she was doing all sorts of crazy stuff. People need to realize that sure sometimes we are thoughtless to the planet, but we have way to big an ego to think that by doing the stuff we do it could have such a drastic effect on such an old woman who has her mind set on doing her own thing. Far be it from me to think that I could change her climates by driving my car. It's just preposterous. Now I know everyone is thinking well what about the facts, what about that movie that has all the facts "An inconvient truth" well i'll admit he didn't lie. Nope he didn't, but he did omit some things. If he went further back into the records that scientists have found he would of seen that dips in tempature and air, and all that is completely natural. Even if we weren't here it would still be happening, maybe we accelerated it a little. But all these people getting their knickers in a bind need to calm down show a little more respect if they are scared of what they are doing to mother earth and just hope they can have an enough of an effect, with their plan to stop global warming, to justify that ego of theirs.
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| Rain In The Deserts None In The Lake | Aug 4th. at 3:12:41 am EDT
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Shadowbear (Hillsboro, Oregon) - Email Me
Wonder what the difference is? The Sahara desert is becoming farmable, Balchustian had 2 years of rain in 1 week, people dying of record cold in Peru, record cold in Australia, snow for the first time in more than 80 years in Buenos Aries, rare snow in South Africa, record snowpack in Northern Canada and Alaska, glaciers growing by 1/3 mile in Alaska - and a drought in Michigan - could it be that we are having, as they say, climate changing, without it being "global WARMING" or human caused - because if the co2 is supposed to make it hotter, it isn't. But the climate is undergoing changes. Oceans are warming causing changes to the air and water circulation - the current estimate is over a million underwater volcanoes, not just erupting violently but mostly oozing lava and heating the ocean. Urban heat sinks have caused local climate changes - Manhattan does not have snow that sticks any more - not due to co2 but due to passive solar heating. Portland, Oregon has very little snow now and very few days where it sticks due to the increased concrete and asphalt.
We are in for an interesting ride in the next few years - the solar scientists (who have not been discredited) say they expect solar activity to be unpredictable in the immediate future - could be much colder - or the unusual activity could result in "toasting us like a marshmallow" I guess we must just go along doing our best to look after the planet and hope our mother decides to keep us.
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| The Speed Is More Of A Mystery Than The Shrinkage. | Aug 4th. at 1:14:39 am EDT
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
If the lakes are shrinking blame it on less snow and warmer winters. Even the rain has gone south. As there used to be an inland sea that nearly covered Texas, nature seems to be planning one there now- while the neighbors next door have run dry.
Perhaps what is so mystifying isn't that its happening- but the speed with which it is.
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| Lake Superior Part Of Global Problem | Aug 3rd. at 10:41:14 pm EDT
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Celtic Fire (DiggersRest, Victoria) - Email Me
This global warming problem seems to be effecting the whole planet Every where we find similar problems occurring Drought ,really violent distructive storms, ,heatwaves people dying from heat stroke .You name it we humans look like being in for some hard times in the future. May the Great Mother inspire our leaders to act wisely in the future .
Bright Blessings to you All
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| Large Bodys Of Water | Aug 3rd. at 9:35:31 pm EDT
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Bluemax (Nelson, New Zealand) - Email Me
things are bad when large bodys of water are affected by man made global change such as la ninya and el nino weather paterns and warming of the gulf stream it would seem that change should occur on an individuel level such as everyone planted a tree or taken more care with enviormental issues, so im not taken about eco bulbs which are rubbish or more fuel efficient vehicles. im talking about people becomeing aware or concious i dont think humanity can
change.
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| Superioor's Stark Geography | Aug 3rd. at 8:26:01 pm EDT
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Wolverine (Thunder Bay, Ontario) - Email Me
As one who lives in a city affected by this (Thunder Bay is a 4hr drive NE of Duluth, most of it along the lakeshore) , I can understand both the suspicion about where the water is going, and the gloabl warming.
When the average person is confronted with something which is not understood, they will seek to explain it in a way which makes sense to them. The gentleman's comments about the use of water in the desert, rather than it being pumped from deeper underground, or closer sources, is one example. While I have taken the "X-Files" common comment to heart to "trust no one," there is no way that the governments of either of the affected nations would be able to build a pipeline of sufficient size to draw off all that water without the construction being noticed. The lowering of a water level in a small lake can be explained by a water diversion, but we are discussing the largest single body of fresh water on the planet.
Most industry in the Superior basin is dependent in some manner upon easy access to eiher the lake or the natural resources around it. This includes Thunder Bay's grain industry, as well as northern MN iron ore processing.
While the last glaciation did wear down much of the surrounding geography, thus allowing humanity easier access to the iron ore and other deposits in the area, it also left us some beautiffuly rounded hills (more often called "mounts" in the area) of basalt, granite and other igneous and metamorphic rocks. The one visible from my kitchen window is over 1000 feet above the surrounding countryside, although heavily rounded from the once proud volcano it must have been over 2 billion years ago. The rock of what is traditionally called the Canadian Shield here in Canada is amongst some of the oldest on our Mother.
The other commenter's concern about the Methyl Hydrate Ice is valid only at some of the more extreme depths which the lake holds. Only Lake Baikal in Siberia is deeper. It is so large in volume that the average temperature (July or December) of the water overall tends to be just above freezing, which is the reason why when a ship sinks into Superior, the only way the bodies get recovered is by diving (bacteria do not survive long enough to cause the decay which creates CO2 and CH4 in sufficient quatities to float the corpse to the surface) .. The temperatures which are concerning the scientists are those near the surface, which are growing warm enough to allow for an algal bloom, which could make it necessary to halt shipping on the lake, and adversely affect both country's economies.
We have had a series of mild winters, with little snow, for most of the past decade, over much of the Superior Basin. This causes lower runnoff levels in spring, which leads to a lower water level. If we get a series of mild but snowy winters, the water level should rise again.
The problem is, global warming is making it so that we are not getting those sort of winters. The last truly major snowfall we had here in Thunder Bay was one of 6' in 6 hours, back in Jan of 97. When I was growing up here, we had snowfalls of 2 to 3 feet at least twice a winter. Last winter we had three snowfalls, and the snow over our 10x12' strawberry patch in the backyard, including the snow piled onto it, got no deeper than two and a half feet. That is the main reason why the lake level has dropped, she's not getting fed the runoff she should be.
May the Mother smile upon you and yours,
Wolverine
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| Environmental Habits? | Aug 3rd. at 6:36:17 pm EDT
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Ahr-Ohn (Bridgeport, Connecticut) - Email Me
If rainfall is reduced, then taps on the water supply should be examined against the natural losses, as the lake should suffer unnaturally in the slow years.
At a thousand feet deep, I'd take a look at what toxic gasses might be released, when it grows too shallow. The area is a likely source for Ice Methane Hydrate, and this could be a new product, and it's cold enough for such ices to form at such depth. Lake Tahoe is in a more obviously volcanic area, and likely has more toxic dissolved gasses, but a either lake should be checked out.
How could anything in the Great Plains have such stark geography? I thought the Wisconsin Glacier ground everything flat.
Arawn
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