Climate Change in the Huron River Watershed
Climate change is evident in the Huron River watershed already. We are seeing warmer overall temperatures and more intense rainfall events. Models that predict future trends indicate these trends will continue. This means warmer water temperatures effecting the plants, fish and other aquatic organisms that help keep our rivers healthy and clean. It also means increased precipitation and flooding in winter and spring and fall potentially drier summers with droughts becoming more common.
Here are several resources for people interested in learning more about local climate change.
- Climatology for the Ann Arbor Station – a summary of historical data to share climate trends from Ann Arbor’s weather station
- Climatology for Southeast Michigan – a summary of historical data to share climate trends in SE Michigan
- Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region – a look at both historical and projected future data for the entire Great Lakes Region
We can take action now that will make our communities and the watershed’s ecosystems more resilient. There are also actions all citizens can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to reduce the amount of climate change that occurs. To learn more about how HRWC is tackling climate change see our related project pages.
- Creating Climate Resilient Communities – bringing together our communities to explore how the climate is changing and how communities can prepare for these changes.
- Preparing the Huron River for a Changing Climate – Implementing a suite of strategies to keep water temperatures cool, river flow within the natural range of variation and fish populations healthy.
- Saving Water Saves Energy and the Carbon Footprint of Water – Greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by using water more efficiently helping reduce the threat of global climate change.
HRWC worked with the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments Center (GLISA) to develop localized and easy to understand fact sheets summarizing the best available climate data for the area and explaining potential impacts of climate change to key sectors.
- Impacts of Climate Change on Infrastructure
- Climate Change Impacts on Natural Resources
- Impacts of Climate Change on Public Health
Additional resources
- Huron River Report Climate Change Edition, Winter 2009
- Some of the best and most accessible information on climate change for our area is produced by GLISA
- The most comprehensive and respected national resource on climate change is the National Climate Assessment