Weather And Climate Of The Great Lakes Region

Explains the atmospheric processes underlying the characteristic weather patterns of the Great Lakes region and evaluates the role of air pollution and nuclear power plants.

People living in the Great Lakes region are already feeling the effects of a changing climate. Shifts in seasonal temperatures and precipitation patterns could have dramatic impacts on the economy, ecology, and quality of life. In this illuminating and thorough volume, leading scholars address the challenge of preparing for climate change in the region, where decision makers from various sectors—government, agriculture, recreation, and tourism—must increasingly be aware of the need to incorporate climate change into their short- and long-term planning. The chapters in this revealing book, written by some of the foremost climate change scholars in North America, outline the major trends in the climate of the Great Lakes region, how humans might cope with the uncertainty of climate change impacts, and examples of on-the-ground projects that have addressed these issues.

This guide for boaters in the Great Lakes region begins with basic information about the weather, the atmosphere, clouds, fog, regional and near-shore wind effects, and waves. It also reviews the hazards from thunderstorms, intense lows, and winter conditions, and what boaters can do to face them. It then outlines how to prepare for possible marine emergencies and the hazards associated with immersion in cold water. This is followed by a guide to local conditions on Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, Lake Superior, and smaller lakes such as Simcoe and Nipigon. The final section describes marine weather services available in the Great Lakes region and how to access marine weather forecast information. Includes index.

Daily maximum and minimum air temperatures at 25 locations on the perimeter of the Great Lakes for the period 1897 to 1977 were used to generate long term daily air temperatures and freezing and thawing degree-days (FDD's and TDD's). In addition daily, weekly, and monthly FDD's and daily TDD's were calculated for the 81 summer and 80 winter seasons between 1897 and 1877. this report describes the computational procedure and presents graphs and tables resulting from this analysis. The complete analysis is too voluminous to present in hard copy, but is available on microfilm through World Data Center A, Institure of Arcic and Alpine research, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder Colorado 80309.