Cross-posted at Eclectablog.com.
Here's something that should give even the most ardent climate change denier pause: Lake Superior is currently 20°F warmer than normal for this time of year.
In the spring, the sun warms the water fairly uniformly as deep and shallow water mix. Once it reaches about 39 degrees, however, the behavior of the water changes and warmer water starts to form a layer floating on the colder water below. The process, known as lake turnover, usually happens in mid-July on Lake Superior, but this year it happened in early to mid-June instead.
UMD researcher Jay Austin said data from three buoys in the lake show that the warm-up is on par with 1998, the fastest since records began being kept in 1979.
"We would normally just be getting to turnover, to 39 degrees, about this time in July," Austin said. "But it happened so early this year that we’re already at 59 degrees (at the western Lake Superior NOAA buoy). That’s 20 degrees warmer than we should be right now."
continued at Daily Kos....
