Great Lakes
Climate Change Adaptation in the Great Lakes Region
The Nature Conservancy’s Climate Change Adaptation Program is a central strategy of the organization’s Great Lakes Project. The Great Lakes Project is governed by the state directors of the eight state programs in the region, and the Ontario director of Nature Conservancy of Canada. The Climate Change strategy is closely tied to The Great Lakes Project’s other focal strategy areas (Coastal Zones, Forests, Watersheds, Invasive Species), and much our work on the climate side focuses on ensuring that work in the other priority areas is “climate smart”.
The Problem
Climate change will bring warmer temperatures to the Great Lakes region, with greatest increases expected in summer maximum and winter minimum temperatures. Currently, summer surface water temperatures in the upper Great Lakes are warming even faster than air temperatures, and ice cover is declining.
Both warmer temperatures and reduced ice cover promote evaporation, and most models suggest that drops in average water levels in the Great Lakes are likely. Of special concern in the region, where a major threat to freshwater systems is pollution and sedimentation from storm run-off, is the prediction of more extreme storms. Even in places where changes in precipitation do not pose a direct risk, infrastructure built by human society to manage these storm events, or increased failures of existing water-handling infrastructure (e.g., combined sewage and storm water handling systems) could have significant negative impacts on aquatic systems and biodiversity.
For more details:
GREAT LAKES WORKING SITE
http://conserveonline.org/workspaces/greatlakesclimatechange Private site, contact P. Doran
