Lake Michigan Is Warmer Than Ever, And The Same Conditions Have Been Observed Across The Other Great Lakes As Well
As climate change heats up bodies of water around the world, the surface temperatures of Lake Michigan are currently the warmest they have ever been in November since 1995, which is when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) began its record-keeping.
Last month, the lake’s surface temperatures were over six degrees above normal. In the first two weeks of December, daily temperatures have stuck around two to four degrees above the historical average.
For this whole year, the average temperature of Lake Michigan has also been abnormally high. These conditions have been observed across the other Great Lakes as well.
They are among the world’s fastest-warming lakes. This consequence of climate change can have incredibly negative impacts on the region.
“The lakes have a memory. And we’re starting to see in the data that warm winter, that prior winter, does have an impact throughout the year and even into the following winter,” said Bryan Mroczka, a physical scientist at NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.
From December 2023 to February 2024, the area’s atmospheric temperatures averaged 34.9 degrees, which was 6.8 degrees above normal.
In Chicago and Illinois, February was the warmest month in almost 150 years. Overall, it was the city’s fifth warmest winter ever recorded.
Last winter was also the warmest across the United States, with eight states in the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes, and Northeast breaking records. The unseasonably warm fall weather contributed to above-average surface water temperatures as well.
According to weather records, lake temperatures tend to drop in October, but that didn’t happen until later this year, in November. It will take some time for these huge lake systems to cool down, especially if the cold fronts don’t last very long.
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Even when waters are warmer by just a few degrees, it can heavily affect the livelihoods of people and the ecosystems that depend on the lakes.
Warmer surface temperatures can melt ice, which protects shorelines from coastal damage and erosion by breaking the waves.
Ice cover also provides a habitat for some fish species that need it to spawn. Many aquatic species rely on cold water to continue their life cycles.
“The warmer the water gets, the less habitat you have for those native species, and the more likely you’re going to see invasions of new species that are more tolerant of warmer temperatures,” said Joel Brammeier, the president and CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes.
“So, both biologically and commercially important fish species (will get) pushed out of the Great Lakes in favor of species from the southern United States that really shouldn’t be there in the first place.”
The warmest of all the Great Lakes is Lake Erie, which has been experiencing harmful algae blooms that make the water toxic. This could affect the drinking water supply of more than 30 million people.
As the Great Lakes continue to warm up, they are becoming more susceptible to these types of algae blooms. The changes happening to the world’s bodies of water are putting the Great Lakes and all of us at risk.
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