Our World

The Climate Change in Minnesota

Last night I was watching Kare11 news, and they had this special on global warming in our state. Perfect timing! From the show, I gained a lot of new information. It said that "By the end of the century, Minnesota would be at the high end of the range. Ten degrees warmer would be stunning. 10 degrees is what ended the iceage and that took 10,000 years. If current projections prove true, we'd be warming the planet to that degree 100 times faster!" According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, by the end of this century Minnesota could look a lot more like the oak, elm, and maple forested areas of central Illinois. Not only that, but "MN would feel more like Illinois in the wintertime with temperatures 6-12 degrees warmer." They also said that Summertime would be about 4 to 8 degrees warmer. Keep in Mind that these changes would cause many effects on our own environment. For instance, Experts have seen the impact of warming lakes, in the form of thinner ice. These scientists have also observed Lake Pepin in the summer to measure the impact on the Walleye population. From their studies they realized that warmer water is causing large walleye to grow slower. They even noticed that reproduction was also altered, with decreased numbers of young walleye on Lake Pepin.
Another animal that will be affected is the state's Moose. Scientists know how sensitive the animal is to temperature change. For example, when it reaches 67 degrees fahrenheit, the animal will pant. Therefore, increasing temperatures can put more stress onto the moose and danger as well.
As you can see, this issue is controversial and debatable. Although more is yet to be known, the topic opens the door to a wide range of discussion. Hopefully more investigating will help us understand what the future for Minnesota holds. Guess what! Tonight (wednesday), around 10:00pm you can check out part 2 on Kare11 News. "Wednesday night's Extra will look at the factors believed to be contributing to global warming-in particular, man-made factors, and what if anything can be done to reverse our impact on the environment."

The Kare11 Part 1 site: The Great Climate Change

posted by Anonymous @ 2/08/2006 04:51:00 PM