News: For Maine’s Lakes, Shorter Ice Seasons Mean Loss of Water Quality, Winter Traditions

Ice cover has critical impacts to the health of our lakes in Maine. It is vital that we monitor when ice in and ice out occurs and the unexpected loss of ice in winter when it happens: Submit your observations.

“There’s more and more evidence that that [ice] has implications on the lake systems throughout the year,” Saros said.

The rate of [ice cover loss] is accelerating, [Tristan Taber, the water quality program director for the Lake Stewards of Maine] said.

“We never historically had reports of ice leaving lakes in March, and within the past two decades—within the past decade, especially—we’ve had significantly more reports of ice-out in March,” he said. A century or more ago, ice-out was common in late spring and even into June in some areas.

Read the story  Source: Inside Climate News, by Sydney Cromwell