Community High School

Ann Arbor Warming

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In a few centuries, it may be possible to walk a muddy path to Canada—the 16-meter-deep Detroit River could be barren due to global climate change.

While the theory of global warming is widely accepted by scientists and many regular citizens, it is less commonly known how rising temperatures will affect us in our own backyard, Ann Arbor, and Michigan as a whole.

To figure this out, scientists such as Dr. Philip A. Meyers look back to a time when Michigan was as hot as they believe it will be in the future: 8,000 years ago, and the only time in the recent past where the area was able to boast year-round warm temperatures. However, this was not without consequense.

Meyers explains that the Great Lakes and other bodies of water around Michigan experienced huge drops in water levels, which affected aquatic life that no longer had supple wetlands to nurture their young in. Agriculture, including the growth of corn, was probably impacted negatively, too.

Where coastal cities are desitined to be drenched in flood waters with climate change, Michigan will more likely dry out. The Great Lakes are expected to drop five feet in the next century.

How does this affect its populants in today’s world? With today’s pollution issues, lower water levels would lead to more concentrated pollutants. Drinking water would become difficult to filter, and there would be less of it due to the draining of the Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes will not be the only bodies of water to dry out. Lake St. Clair, which serves as a natural borderline between Detroit and Windsor, could be non-existent in the next few centuries, which could make for an interesting revampment of border-control.

Meyers says the only way to survive in the new climate is by conservation. That could mean skipping relaxing baths and taking quick showers, or patronizing one local pool instead of multiple private ones that use water needlessly.

With certainty, each and every citizen of Michigan will be affected if global climate change continues on its pattern, says Meyers, “The way we live would be seriously impacted.”