Great Lakes
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Photo by NASA LandSat and prepared by Neil Howk.
Climate change threatens some of the most treasured natural and historic places in our nation. An example in the Great Lakes bioregion that park managers are concerned about is decreasing lake levels due to an increased warmer and drier climate. This is an image of Lake Superior in Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, whose record low water occurred in 2007 when the lake was 22 inches below full. This decrease will impact park infrastructure like docks, commercial ships will have to carry less to float higher, and surrounding wetland habitat may dry up impacting the wild rice beds and fisheries.
Related Links
Suggested links to learn more about climate change in this region:
- Talking Points: Impacts to the Great Lakes
- Great Lakes Network Climate Change Resource Brief
- Heartland Network Climate Change Resource Brief
- Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network Climate Change Resource Brief
- Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Climate Change Information
- Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Climate Change Information
- University of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI)
Last updated: April 22, 2010
