A warm start to the winter season has left the Great Lakes virtually ice-free and with their lowest ice cover to kick off a new year in at least 50 years.

On New Year’s Day, only 0.35% of the Great Lakes were covered in ice, the lowest on record for the date, and well below the historical average of nearly 10% for this point in winter, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL).

This year’s missing ice in the Great Lakes adds to a growing trend of winter ailments plaguing the US, from dwindling snowpacks in the West to an ongoing snow drought in the Northeast, all becoming more common due to warming temperatures from the climate crisis.

    • chitak166
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      9 months ago
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      “It’s anyone’s fault but mine.

      • iheartneopets
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        9 months ago
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        You really think people are choosing to use fossil fuels at this point? Oh buddy, come to any city where public transit isn’t a thing because moneyed interests lobbied (and continue to lobby) against it, and you can see that there is no choice in the matter. It’s drive a gasoline-powered car or just don’t get to work/buy groceries for 95% of people in most places.

        • chitak166
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          9 months ago
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          Yeah you’re right. Nobody is able to live without using fossil fuels.

      • UrPartnerInCrime
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        9 months ago
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        OK but then what’s your argument for those that don’t use fossil fuels?