"Report: Great Lakes Winter Ice Cover Has Decreased 71% Since 1973"

"The average amount of ice covering the Great Lakes declined 71 percent over the past 40 winters, with Lake Superior ice down 79 percent, according to a report published by the American Meteorological Society.

'There was a significant downward trend in ice coverage from 1973 to the present for all of the lakes,' states the study appearing in the society’s Journal of Climate.

Researchers used Coast Guard reports and satellite photographs taken from 1973 to 2010 to determine the ice coverage of all the lakes, with Lake Ontario ice dropping 88 percent while ice in Lake St. Clair (between Lake Huron and Lake Erie) diminished just 37 percent."

John Myers reports for the Duluth News Tribune March 10, 2012.

SEE ALSO:

"Great Lakes Ice Coverage Falls 71$ Over 40 Years, Researcher Says" (MSNBC)