“The average Twin Cities temperature between March 1 and May 31 has risen from some two degrees since 1970, from 45° to 47°, according to Climate Central, a climate research and communications nonprofit.” Here’s a visual:
“The lack of ice cover — which Kessler said was most likely linked to climate change, El Niño and natural variability — could offer a glimpse of the region’s future as the world warms. The lack of snow and lake ice has left some hearty Midwesterners who ski, skate and fish to question how their lifestyles will persist.”
“A Lack of Ice Is Reshaping Winter Life Around the Great Lakes,” RSN.org, by Evan Bush, March 13, 2024.
“To understand the record-breaking warmth this winter in Minnesota, scientists look to the oceans…For the sixth straight year, surface temperatures of the world’s oceans set a new heat record in 2023, according to a study released this month from an international team of scientists.”
“Record ocean temps likely cause of Minnesota’s weird non-winter,”
Star Tribune, by Greg Stanley, January 27, 2024
“Assuming the current pace of climate change does not slow, the computer models predict a 600 percent increase in fish kills by 2100.”
“A warming climate brings dire predictions for Minnesota fish,” MPRNEWS, by Dan Gunerson, September 20, 2022
“Now, a new study from climate scientists at the University of Minnesota projects winters could get another 6.5 degrees warmer by 2100, and our summers will be 7 degrees warmer than their 20th century average. That’s a Minnesota climate that looks and feels very different from today.”
“Minnesota could see 55 fewer days with snow on the ground by 2100,” MPRNEWS ClimateCast, by Paul Huttner, March 17, 2022
“Sheep Ranch, one of Minnesota’s largest remaining blocks of private forest, is now permanently protected, adding 2,529 acres of serene forests, pristine ponds, and precious habitat to the Paul Bunyan State Forest.”
Sheep Ranch, Hubbard County Minnesota, Trust for Public Land
“Researchers say even though Minnesota’s boreal forest feels pretty far north, it’s not far enough to escape the impacts of a warming climate.”
“A warming climate could make Minnesota look more like Kansas,”
Kare11 News, by Kare11 Editors, October 10, 2023
“The bigger storms Minnesota is now experiencing on a more regular basis also challenge the rice, especially late in the season. A violent storm with heavy rain and wind can knock rice off the stalks before it can be harvested in late August.”
“Survival of Wild Rice Threatened by Climate Change,
Increased Rainfall in Northern Minnesota,”
Inside Climate News, by
Andrew Hazzard, Sahan Journal
August 14, 2023
“In a stark turnaround that’s one of the state’s great environmental successes, the St. Louis River can now produce bountiful bays of wild rice. Or it would, if the geese would leave it alone.”
“Wild rice grows again in the St. Louis River. The problem now is geese,” Star Tribune, by Greg Stanley, July 22, 2023.
“Minnesota’s moose population is down 60 percent since 2009, from 8,000 to 3,200. Michelle Cartensen, a wildlife health supervisor at the Minnesota DNR, cited winter ticks and brain worms as a primary cause in the Northwest side of the state.”
“Moose herds threatened by ticks, brain worms, the result of
climate change,” Bridge Michigan, by Dan Netter, June 22, 2023
“…water—too much at times and too little at others—could soon be a major problem for state producers. U of M researchers are trying to help the agriculture industry adapt to our shifting climate and prepare for more dramatic changes ahead.“
“Too Much or Too Little”,
Minnesota Alumni, by Greg Breining, Winter 2022
“…it’s clear that the worst fears of the most adamant critics have not come to pass, with solar projects generating local tax revenues, bolstering farm income, reducing the strain on soil and doing no damage to the value of nearby homes.”
“One Farmer Set Off a Solar Energy Boom in Rural Minnesota;
10 Years Later, Here’s How It Worked Out”,
Inside Climate News, by Dan Gearino, December 20, 2022
“…we could assist the forest to be more resilient and thrive into the future by ‘assisting’ in the migration of the tree genetics. The forest no longer has the luxury of thousands of years to adapt to gradual change.”
“Forest Assisted Migration”, ISSUU, by David Abazs, November 2022
“Right now we estimate that there are about 500 fish kills a year here in Minnesota,” explained Phelps. “The conservative estimates from this research suggests that by the end of the century, there will be several thousand fish kills that happen each year.”
“A warming climate brings dire predictions for Minnesota fish”, MPRNews, by Dan Gunderson, September 20, 2022
“We’re seeing higher average temperatures, leading to the type of warm water that encourages algae blooms. And we’re seeing more frequent significant rain events, which results in more of the runoff that provides harmful algae blooms the nutrients needed to thrive.”
“How heat waves fuel toxic algae blooms in Minnesota waters”, Friends of the Mississippi River, by Shaymus McLaughlin,
August 12, 2022
“A new study reveals the emergence of an “extreme heat belt” from Texas to Illinois, where the heat index could reach 125°F at least one day a year by 2053…” including some Minnesota counties!
“An “Extreme Heat Belt” will soon emerge in the U.S., study warns”, Axios, by Andrew Freedman, August 15, 2022
“There were at least 55 wind gusts of 75+ mph during Thursday’s severe weather outbreak, which is the second most hurricane force wind gusts in a single day since at least 2004, according to the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center.”
“Minnesota part of the top 2 hurricane force wind events since 2004”, Bring Me the News, by Joe Nelson, May 13, 2022
‘“The rain events that used to occur every 50 or 100 years are now happening every 10 years or even more frequently,” said Katrina Kessler, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency commissioner. “It’s not just once in your lifetime, it’s three or more times in one decade that you’re having to think about impacts on local resources as well as infrastructure and homes.”’
“Minnesota communities report growing need for resources
to address climate change effects”, Twin Cities Pioneer Press Online,
by Alex Derosier, May 4, 2022
“We have seen in northern Minnesota, yes, some of the fastest-changing winter conditions in the country,”…
“Warming Winters Up North Is ‘Signature Change’ In Minnesota’s Climate, Experts Say”, CBS Minnesota (WCCO),
by Erin Hassanzadeh, April 18, 2022
“…since 1967 on Minnesota lakes, ice-in dates have moved about nine days later on average, while ice-out have moved about four to five days earlier. It amounts to about two weeks less ice time a season.”
Minnesota’s ice season is getting shorter, report finds,” KARE 11, reported by Jennifer Austin, January 17, 2022
“Dwindling populations of species like the moose demonstrate how second- and third-order effects of climate change can upend ecosystems that have sustained human life, ancestral knowledge, and culture for generations.”
“Parasites That Thrive in a Warming Planet Are Killing Minnesota’s Moose”, Reader Supported News, reported by Liz Scheltens, Vox, February 17, 2022
“Minnesota is warmer than it used to be. Rain falls in bigger downpours. Hay fever sufferers have a longer sneezing season, and the ticks that deliver Lyme disease are expanding their range. Red maple trees are moving north. So are purple finches. Moose numbers have shrunk…Without question, the state’s climate has changed in recent decades. And that’s had an impact on the lives of its wildlife, its plants, its people.”
“Climate Change in Minnesota: 23 signs”, reported by Jaime Chismar, MPR News, February 02, 2015
“The news for moose is not good across the country’s northern tier and in some parts of Canada. A recent and rapid decline of moose populations in many states may be linked to climate change, and to the parasites that benefit from it.”
“Thanks To Parasites, Moose Are Looking More Like Ghosts”, by Fred Bever, NPR: All Things Considered, November 05, 2013
“Dr. Lee Frelich, the director of the University of Minnesota Center for Forest Ecology… predicts increased temperatures will shift the range of trees by about 300 miles. Balsam fir, white spruce and paper birch are examples of boreal trees. Temperate species are red maple, sugar maple and oak. ‘Minnesota is right on the edge of these zones so we will be very sensitive to a changing climate because of that’…”
“Scientist says climate change creeping closer to the BWCA”, by Keith Vandervort, Timberjay, July 24, 2015.