A frozen Lake Erie from space and rising water temps
Posted By RichC on January 13, 2014
Here’s a beautiful satellite photo from NASA showing the ice formation on Lake Erie from January 9, 2014 and a link to an interesting Discovery Magazine blog post discussing ice on the Great Lakes. Since I grew up on the south shore of Lake Erie and a lot of time “recreating” in all seasons on several of the Great Lakes, the discussion of change from a scientific point of view peaked my interest. Besides the photo, I enjoyed the explanation for Lake Superior’s 2.5 degree rise between 1979 and 2006 and a few more charts, graphs and photos from the Wunderground blog. Worth reading and debating if you like these kinds of things.
When there is more ice, more sunlight is reflected from the surface back into space, enhancing cold temperatures. Conversely, when air temperatures warm lake ice melts, and this results in more of the sun’s energy being absorbed by the relatively dark surface of the lake. This, in turn, causes water temperatures to rise.
Comments