Move 1: How Are We Affected?
Are we nearly as concerned as we should be?
Global climate change is an issue that Americans have been dealing with for years now. It is astonishing that some people refuse to take note of the issue, or worse yet not believe in its existence at all. This is a graph documenting the percentage of Americans who care a great deal or a fair amout about climate change, versus those who care only a little or not at all. While 2015 was the hottest recorded year in America, 45% of people landed in the catagory of not at all. These numbers should apall us, and make us reconsider how America is educating people on this matter.
Excerpt from Move 1:
"The Great Lakes, a subject close to home (literally), are already being affected by Global Warming. Temperatures are already warmer and water levels are already lower but there is more to come. Projected changes that will be the cause of climate change include a lower fish population, an increase in zebra mussels, a decrease in ice cover, and even a declining moose population in Minnesota. Coldwater fish habitat is estimated to remain unaffected in deep lakes near the northern border of the United States, but in most shallow lakes in the these habitats will either be damaged or lost completely. If this is the case, America will have reduced the amount of suitable coldwater and coolwater fish habitat by up to 45 percent and 30 percent respectively. The issue that comes out of a rise in population of zebra mussels is an even greater loss of microscopic organisms that play a huge part in a lake’s ecological food web. Growth and survival of zebra mussels in southwestern Lake Erie and the Ohio River (KY) were studied in different water temperatures (within 3-7 degrees F, the expected range of temperature increase for lakes). This seemingly small rise in temperature significantly enhanced growth rates in fall and early winter. From these experiments, the NWF predicted northern populations of zebra mussels will benefit from predicted climatic change temperatures. The zebra mussels could even extend their range of habitat to higher latitudes and altitudes."
Researchers at GLEAM predict that, as a result of climate change, water surface temperatures between 2000 and 2100 will warm at rates ranging from 0.37-0.93 degrees Celsius per decade in Lake Superior, and 0.20-0.60 degrees Celsius per decade in Lake Eire.
