and Canada work effectively together on Great Lakes issues, indicates that ice coverage on the lakes has declined by 71% between the early 1970s and 2010. EPA data shows that the average number of days the lakes are frozen each year has declined across all five Great Lakes since the 1970s.Д®stimates presented by the International Joint Commission, an organization created to ensure that the U.S. While ice coverage on the Great Lakes has always been highly variable, longitudinal data from NOAA indicate a downturn in winter ice coverage over the last few decades. 15 in order to sample the water underneath. Right: Scientists pick and drill into the ice covering Lake Huron on Feb. 15 in Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay near Fairgrove, Michigan. Left: Scientists from Central Michigan University use a sonde logging system to measure water quality in real time on Feb. The data will help them better understand ice properties, water chemistry and lake biology, as well as help them determine how the lakes are influenced by the changing climate. Using precise scientific instruments as well as ordinary tools like ice picks, slotted spoons and plastic jugs, decentralized teams across all five lakes drilled their way through the ice to collect water samples, measure underwater light levels and gather plankton and other microorganisms. The shared results will provide the first systematic baseline of winter conditions on the Great Lakes, giving important clues about how climate is affecting lake ecosystems as a whole. and Canada participated in the inaugural event, which took place during a single week in February. More than a dozen teams of scientists from the U.S. The last bits of winter snow and ice in the Great Lakes melted in late May, according to a NOAA-GLSEA (Great Lakes Surface Environmental Analysis) tracker that uses satellite data to produce real-time daily estimates of Great Lakes ice coverage.Д«efore it melted, scientists collected samples of ice, snow and frosty lake water in a coordinated scientific event called Winter Grab, a research effort to assess the winter conditions of the Great Lakes and Lake St.

From left: Bowling Green State University emeritus biology professor George Bullerjahn, Bowling Green graduate student Ryan Wagner and University of Windsor professor Mike McKay set out on the frozen surface of Lake Erie's Sandusky Bay to find a spot to collect water samples on Feb.

Hatch cover desk