There is hardly any ice in the Great Lakes?!

Warmer weather has changed ice all over the world, but recently it was noticed that it has changed the ice in the Great Lakes very much. 

According to a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Great Lakes only have 5% ice cover right now. Usually, at this time of year, the Great Lakes would have at least 40% ice cover. Winters are getting colder because of climate change. This means that places that normally have a lot of ice, like these frozen lakes, might not have as much ice as they used to. 

It is said that the upper Midwest has been the warmest place over the years, based on warming trends from at least 2002 to 2021. This is known to happen in the Great Lakes, but experts say it happens in many lakes that normally have ice on them as well. They said that lakes freeze later in the winter and thaw earlier in the spring. 

Recently, people have been talking more about how the temperatures are rising. Copernicus, the climate change office of the European Union, said that January was the warmest January ever around the world. The temperatures have been the hottest on record for eight months in a row. Scientists are worried about what the rising temperatures will do to our landscapes. 

The weather has been so nice that some games and events have had to be changed. This year, there wasn’t enough snow for the John Beargrease Sled Dog run to happen. The race starts just outside of Lake Superior in Minnesota. Because Lake Erie didn’t have any ice, the boat trips of Niagara Falls could also start earlier.