Great Lakes water levels have dropped down to their lowest point in the last decade.
Lakes Michigan and Huron were nine inches lower and Lake Superior is six inches lower than the historical average, according to March data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The levels are expected to rise during the spring thaw, but low water levels can cause shipping vessels to run aground, limit recreational access and increase erosion.
Richard Rood is a professor emeritus of climate and space sciences and engineering with the University of Michigan. He said Great Lakes ice cover was moderately low this winter, allowing more water to evaporate.
"Some of that evaporation is going to be immediately turned into snow and lake-effect precipitation, but that's not going to feed back into the lake until you get in the melting season," he said.
Rood said some variability year-to-year is normal, but climate change is contributing to sharper shifts between extremely high and low lake levels in a "tug-of-war" trend.
"Climate change has the potential to amplify both the flood and the drought cycles," he said.
And this pendulum swing makes climate resilience and mitigation planning difficult, Rood said.
To see historical data across the Great Lakes, visit the Great Lakes water level dashboard.
