Newswise — There's good news and bad news for folks who love a good coat of ice on the Great Lakes for the activities and businesses it supports. The good news is that, after decades of dipping annual average ice cover, there's reason to believe that trend could slow or even, temporarily, turn around. That's according to new research from the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research, or CIGLR, at the University of Michigan. "We may anticipate a pause in ice cover decline, or even a moderate (short-lived) increase in average ice cover," the team wrote in its study. "This contradicts most existing literature on this subject." The research, supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation, suggests that the Great Lakes' ice cover is synced to strong but slow-churning natural global cycles that drive regional weather patterns. Currently, we're in a trough, but we could be heading out of that toward a crest that would mean more ice cover, even against a backdrop of global warming. Which is not to say the lakes are out of hot water with respect to climate change. "It is important that we do not interpret these changes as climate recovery, but rather...

People who ice-fish, skate, or operate cargo ships across the Great Lakes have watched the ice thin for 50 years. A new reconstruction of that ice cover suggests the decline could pause soon. It might even briefly reverse within the next decade. That doesn’t mean the lakes are safe from a warming climate. It means the ice has a longer memory than any satellite record can reveal. Researchers at the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR) at the University of Michigan have now uncovered that memory. “We may anticipate a pause in ice cover decline, or even a moderate (short-lived) increase in average ice cover,” the team wrote in the new study. “This contradicts most existing literature on this subject.” A downward slide looked unstoppable Most research on Great Lakes ice tells the same story. As the planet warms, the ice shrinks and continues to shrink. NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory puts the long-term decline at roughly 5% per decade since satellite records began in 1973. One recent winter left the lakes with only about one-tenth of their usual peak ice cover. David Cannon’s team isn’t disputing that long-term record. Instead, the researchers dispute the assumption that the...

The Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research is using AI forecasting to assist Great Lakes research and train environmental science students.

YouTube video by Eric Shaw

Summary: The Annis Water Resources Institute and Grand Valley State University are seeking a research scientist to provide technical assistance on projects primarily focused on the ecology of Lake Mic...

YouTube video by CIGLR um