Will Lake Michigan dry up?

Lake Michigan and Huron are forecast to continue to fall another 12 inches by January 2022. If we stay dry and the lakes fall to the lower end of the possibilities, the lakes will only be about six inches above the long-term average water level.

Is Lake Michigan going down?

Water levels are 22 inches lower than the record high in April of 2020, according to the report. The report also predicts Lake Michigan would rise about 3 inches in April. “Generally, all the lakes are down from the highs of 2020 and 2021,” said Mark Breederland, Michigan Sea Grant educator.

Will the Great Lakes ever run dry?

Water levels are likely to decline somewhat in the next several months, as part of the usual seasonal cycle. But Gronewold cautions that soil moisture remains high in the upper lake basins, and he notes that even under dry conditions, it will be a couple years before the lakes would return to more typical levels.

How long until the Great Lakes are gone?

According to 70 years of lake and aquifer records from northern Wisconsin, the states' small lakes usually rise and fall on a regular cycle — about six years up, and six years down.

Is Lake Michigan losing water?

In just a year, Lake Michigan has gone down 16 inches. Each inch equals 800 billion gallons of water. This time of year, we can expect to see the water levels start to go down, but the drastic drop is easily explained.

The hidden danger in the Great Lakes

Is Lake Michigan shrinking?

Now in the past year, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are declining rapidly. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has measured the decline in water levels on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron at 17 inches since July 2020.

Will the Great Lakes rise?

While the Great Lakes have always seen rising and falling water levels, usually over decadal cycles, and are famously stormy, experts say conditions are becoming more variable and that past events and conditions do not necessarily inform the lakes' future (Greenwire, March 21, 2019).

Can Lake Michigan be drained?

According to satellite measurements, Lake Michigan holds one quadrillion gallons of water. It's so vast that you would need to drain about 400 billion gallons from it just to lower the level by one inch.

Is Lake Michigan rising due to climate change?

Chicago is at risk as climate change causes wild swings in Lake Michigan water levels. Heavier rainfall and more frequent droughts are now causing extreme swings in the water levels of Lake Michigan and the Chicago River, wreaking havoc on the city and prompting urgent action to find a fix.

What would happen if the Great Lakes were drained?

Without Lake Superior, areas near the lake would see far less snow each winter, and the distribution of snow in the central and eastern regions around the lake would be far different. The effects would not be limited to snow.

Will climate change raise the Great Lakes?

Climate change impacts

All the Great Lakes are warming, but Lake Superior stands out. Still the coldest lake, its summer surface water temperatures increased 2.5 C between 1979 and 2006, even faster than air temperatures. Even the deep waters of Lake Michigan are warming at a rate of 0.5 C per decade.

Is Michigan a good place for climate change?

The climate crisis is becoming a drought and water crisis in some parts of the U.S., whereas the Great Lakes hold over 80% of North America's surface freshwater. However, Michigan can only be a climate refuge if we keep climate change from getting out of control.

Will global warming cause the Great Lakes to rise?

Great Lakes observers have amassed ample evidence that climate change is causing the lakes' high water cycles to get higher and low cycles to get lower, and predict that these cycles could happen more rapidly. Stronger storms pose a major threat to people, and their homes and businesses.

Is Lake Superior frozen 2022?

According to the GLERL, total ice coverage on the Great Lakes is at 49.9% as of Feb. 15, 2022. That's up from when it was 11.4% on Jan. 19, 2022.

Is Lake Michigan expected to rise in 2021?

The lakes are expected to drop by one inch through mid-February 2022. Lake Michigan-Huron is expected to stay above its long-term monthly mean water level well into 2022. For reporting purposes, Lakes Michigan-Huron is the same body of water.

Is Lake Huron shrinking?

New data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Detroit office show that all of the lakes have lower levels, with Lake Michigan and Lake Huron showing a drop of 14 inches from the same time last year, while Lake Superior is down about six inches.

Is Chicago sinking?

The Chicago area and parts of southern Lake Michigan, where glaciers disappeared 10,000 years ago, are sinking about 4 to 8 inches each century. One or 2 millimeters a year might not seem like a lot, but “over a decade that's a centimeter.

Is Lake Michigan getting shallower?

Since scientists have started keeping track, Lake Michigan water levels have bounced up and down, while always remaining in a range of about six feet. And, while levels this year are definitely on the high side of that range, they're not higher than we saw in, say, 1986.

Is Lake Michigan getting warmer?

Lake Michigan also experienced rapid warming and more ice-free years. Lake Superior is warming up three times as fast as the global average, which is around 0.61 degrees (0.34 Celsius) per decade.

Can the Chicago River drain Lake Michigan?

The Chicago River runs west from Lake Michigan to the Des Plaines River where it eventually empties into the Gulf of Mexico, but it was not always the case. Before 1900, the Chicago River flowed east through the city and emptied out into Lake Michigan. “Why does one reverse a river?” you ask.

Is Lake Michigan getting bigger?

Lake Michigan's water level has historically risen or fallen by just a matter of inches over the course of a year, swelling in summer following the spring snowmelt and falling off in winter.

Does Lake Michigan feed into the ocean?

Lake Michigan receives most of its water from the Michigan side of its basin. On its southwest flank, most of the surface water drains into the Illinois River and then to the Gulf of Mexico, rather than into the lake.

Are the Great Lakes in trouble?

The Great Lakes are struggling under the combined weight of many ailments, from invasive species and toxic chemicals to the nutrient runoffs that fuel Lake Erie's chronic algae problem. And in many cases, climate change is making it worse.

Will the Great Lakes ever flood?

Although the Great Lakes are currently experiencing both increased precipitation and more extreme precipitation, a dry period with increased temperatures would increase the risk of drought. “Variability is the right way to plan—we anticipate sustained periods of flood and drought in the coming decades,” Rood says.

Is Lake Superior getting warmer?

Annual average air temperatures for Lake Superior areas including the Apostle Islands could increase by as much as 8 degrees by century's end, and, according to an EPA-funded climate assessment for Lake Superior, a summer at Isle Royale National Park, north of the Apostle Islands, could feel more like a day at the ...