That’s an uptick from the near-zero ice coverage that has persisted virtually the entire season. ADADLake Ontario, meanwhile, is hovering at just above 1 percent ice coverage, while Lake Michigan, doubling that, still only sits a tad over 2 percent. “Ice coverage is definitely below normal,” said James Kessler, a physical scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab, in an interview. Kessler said that the reduction in ice coverage is helpful for the Coast Guard, tasked with breaking the ice to allow shipping vessels across the lakes. Dwindling ice coverage is nothing new for the Great Lakes, with climate change and other factors contributing to about a 5 percent decline in maximum ice coverage per decade since records began in 1973.

Source: Washington Post January 22, 2021 15:14 UTC