Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Saturday 23 March 2019

Report: Great Lakes feeling effects of rapid climate warming

By JOHN FLESHER creasing 5 to 15 percent in
AP Environmental Writer the summer by 2100.
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) Heat waves should be-
— The Great Lakes region is come more common,
warming faster than the rest posing risks for the elderly
of the U.S., a trend likely to and children with asthma.
bring more extreme storms By the end of the century,
while also degrading water the region should have up
quality, worsening erosion to 40 additional days with
and posing tougher chal- temperatures exceeding
lenges for farming, scien- 90 degrees (32.2 Celsius).
tists reported Thursday. Winter snowfall should de-
The annual mean air tem- crease in most places,
perature in the region, although locales accus-
which includes portions of tomed to “lake-effect”
the U.S. Midwest , Northeast squalls can expect them to
and southern Canada, rose dump even more snow —
1.6 degrees (0.9 Celsius) particularly along the Lake
from 1901-60 and 1985- Ontario snowbelt in New
2016, according to the re- York.
port commissioned by the The study did not include
Chicago-based Environ- a cost-benefit analysis of
mental Law & Policy a warming climate’s likely
Center. During the same results. Several of the scien-
periods, the mean temper- In this March 12, 2019 satellite photo provided by NOAA, shows the Great Lakes in various degrees tists said in a phone news
ature for the remainder of of snow and ice. conference there may
the contiguous U.S. rose 1.2 Associated Press be some bright spots but
degrees (0.7 Celsius). affecting the climate of the cooler in summer and carry harmful bacteria, said that the economic impact
Warming is expected to Great Lakes region and the warmer in winter than those the report produced by 18 would be mostly negative.
continue this century, with physical behavior of the farther inland, while their scientists, most from Mid- The region could have lon-
rates depending on the vol- Great Lakes themselves,” humidity fuels “lake-effect” western universities as well ger growing seasons, said
ume of heat-trapping gas- said Don Weubbles, an at- snowfall and summer rains. as the National Oceanic Brad Cardinale of the Uni-
es such as carbon dioxide mospheric scientist at the In addition to providing and Atmospheric Adminis- versity of Michigan’s Coop-
and methane that humans University of Illinois and for- drinking water for millions of tration. erative Institute for Great
pump into the atmosphere. mer assistant director of people, they are the back- While annual U.S. precipi- Lakes Research.
As the air warms, it will hold the Office of Science and bone of an economy built tation increased 4 percent But the report suggests that
more moisture, which likely Technology Policy in the on manufacturing, agricul- between 1901 and 2015, it benefit could be offset by
will mean heavier winter Obama administration. ture and tourism. jumped nearly 10 percent wetter springs that make it
snowstorms and spring rains The Great Lakes hold about A warming climate will add in the Great Lakes region, harder to plant crops, plus
— with more flooding in vul- one-fifth of the world’s sur- to stresses the lakes have with much of the increase increasing drought and
nerable areas. face fresh water and are suffered from industrial pol- due to unusually large heat in summer. Corn and
Yet summers will be hotter so large that they influence lution and development, storms, the report said. soybean yields are expect-
and drier. regional weather. particularly overflows from Future precipitation is likely ed to drop 10 to 30 percent
“Climate change is already They keep nearby lands urban sewer systems that to happen less evenly, de- by the century’s end.q

Spacewalking astronauts swap

out space station’s batteries

By SETH BORENSTEIN tery equipment out and The station’s robotic arm
AP Science Writer installed. had done much of the
Changing batteries in or- The rookie spacewalkers heavy work beforehand,
bit took some huffing and had to be reminded to en- but the astronauts still had
puffing and some intri- joy the view from about 250 to lug 300-pound pieces
cate maneuvering by two miles up. Near the end of the size of a large coffee ta-
This image provided by NASA shows astronauts Anne McClain spacewalkers Friday. But the spacewalk, astronaut ble and reconnect battery
and Nick Hague taking a spacewalk to replace aging batteries in the end, it went almost Thomas Pesquet at Mis- wiring.There are more re-
on the International Space Station on Friday, March 22, 2019. as smoothly as doing the sion Control told McClain: placements of the 20-year-
Associated Press
chore back on Earth. “There’s the Earth right be- old station’s original batter-
NASA’s Anne McClain and hind you.” ies to come. NASA is about
Nick Hague took 6 hours “I noticed. Beautiful,” Mc- halfway through replacing
and 39 minutes to replace Clain said. 48 batteries with ones that
three old nickel-hydrogen As the spacewalkers were are expected to last the re-
batteries with more pow- taking off their spacesuits, mainder of the station’s life.
erful lithium-ion batteries they got a surprise mes- The space station uses solar
on the International Space sage from Hague’s wife, Air panels to generate power
Station. They struggled with Force Lt. Col. Catie Hague: but the batteries are used
a stubborn bolt on the last “You guys nailed it. Awe- when it’s in the dark and
battery plate, but eventu- some job. Talk to you later. not getting power from the
ally got the piece of bat- Love you.” sun. q