For a while now we’re heard that the steadily dropping level of the Great Lakes is yet another sign of—wait for it now—global warming . . . er, climate change . . . er, climate “disruption,” or whatever we’re supposed to call it this week. The hotlink to “Great Lakes drop” on The Warmlist has gone dead, and by the way, is there still some snow and ice in the Great Lakes here at the end of June? There still was in mid-June, and that ought to be embarrassment enough for the Climatistas, if they were capable of shame and embarrassment.
Anyway, the New York Times reports today that Great Lakes levels are suddenly rising, much to the surprise of scientists:
But after reaching historic lows in 2013, water levels in the Great Lakes are now abruptly on the rise, a development that has startled scientists and thrilled just about everybody with a stake in the waterfront, including owners of beach houses, retailers in tourist areas and dockmasters who run marinas on the lakeshore.
Lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior are at least a foot higher than they were a year ago, and are expected to rise three more inches over the next month. Lake Ontario and Lake Erie are seven to nine inches higher than a year ago.
Wait—”a development that has startled scientists”?? I thought they had the whole matter settled, darn it. Maybe the secular trends of the Great Lakes have less to do with climate. Or maybe it is related to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions—but why would scientists be “startled”? Maybe they aren’t, and the New York Times reporter is simply putting words and thoughts into their heads? But that would raise other troubling questions, wouldn’t it?
More fun:
“We’ve had a rebound that we haven’t seen in many, many years,” said Gene Clark, a coastal engineer with the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute in Superior, Wis. “We’ve been historically below average, and now we are finally back to above-average water levels. At this time last year, I was talking to Wisconsin state legislators about what was happening, why the levels were so low and what could the State of Wisconsin do about it. It was very much a crisis.”
The International Joint Commission, a group with members from the United States and Canada that advises on water resources, completed a five-year study in April 2013 concluding that water levels in the lakes were likely to drop even farther, in part because of the lack of precipitation in recent years brought on by climate change. [Emphasis added.]
Yeah, you do have to wonder whether the International Joint Commission is some kind of cannabis-related entity that went into the wrong meeting room somewhere, and produced another silly climate report that has been falsified already. I suggest they all go out and get real jobs.
JOHN adds: Here in Minnesota, it is no surprise that Lake Superior (and lots of other lakes and rivers) are high. So far, 2014 is the wettest year of any in recorded history. So, yeah, lakes around here are at high levels and we are dealing with flooding. So if climate change is supposed to cause drought, I guess we can forget about it. Unless climate change also causes rain and snow, in which case we may as well forget about it, too.
Minnehaha Falls, made famous by Longfellow, is no wilderness destination, being located well within the city limits of Minneapolis. But with Minnehaha Creek at flood levels this year, an enterprising kayaker decided to take the plunge. Here it is, just for fun, a kayak goes over Minnehaha Falls:
Minnehaha Falls: First Descent from OGP Productions on Vimeo.
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