Study Predicts Extreme Climate Change

The Great Lakes region’s weather patterns will become more extreme andlake and river levels will drop according to a new study on climatechange. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

The Great Lakes region’s weather patterns will become more extreme and lake
and river levels will drop according to a new study on climate change. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports.


Experts from government, universities, industry and environmental groups
compiled the huge report. It predicts temperatures will rise in the Great
Lakes region by as much as ten-degrees Fahrenheit over the next century. The
experts say this will be most noticeable during summer when there will be
more extreme highs and an increased risk of life-threatening heat such as
the 1995 heat wave that killed 700 people in Chicago. The report predicts
precipitation will increase, but will come in more extreme weather:
downpours and blizzards. And that will quickly run off and there’ll be more
evaporation. The report says that will ultimately result in lower levels in
lakes and rivers. The climate extremes will create transportation problems
for barges on the rivers, and cargo ships on the Great Lakes. The report
says some crop yields will drop and some tree species won’t survive the
climate changes. It took ten years to compile the report.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.