Annual Climate Trends and Impacts Summary for the Great Lakes Basin
A product of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement – Annex 9
Coordinated by a partnership between climate services organizations in the U.S. and Canada, this product provides a synthesis report summarizing the previous years’ climate trends, events, new research, assessments, and related activities in the Great Lakes Region. This product is a contribution to the U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, through Annex 9 on Climate Change Impacts, and to the national climate assessment processes in the U.S. and Canada. It should be cited as: Environment and Climate Change Canada and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 2022 Annual Climate Trends and Impacts Summary for the Great Lakes Basin. 2023.
2022 Document
Documents will also soon be available at binational.net (currently under review by Environment and Climate Change Canada)
French Version (coming soon)
During the 2022 reporting period, air temperatures were near normal and precipitation varied widely across the Great Lakes basin. Heavy springtime precipitation in the northwest was contrasted with fall drought conditions in the southeast. Both contributed to rapid seasonal shifts in Lake Superior and Ontario water levels, respectively. Water levels remained predominantly above average, with the exceptions of the beginning of 2022 for Lake Superior and the latter half of 2022 for Lake Ontario. At 56.1% areal coverage, Great Lakes maximum ice cover in 2022 was above the long-term average.
Contributing Partners
References
GLISA. Great Lakes Retrospectives and Prospectives (2022). https://glisa.umich.edu/retrospectives-prospectives/
Notaro, M., J. Jorns, and L. Briley, 2022: Representation of Lake–Atmosphere Interactions and Lake-Effect Snowfall in the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin among HighResMIP Global Climate Models. J. Atmos. Sci., 79, 1325–1347, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-21-0249.1.
Seglenieks, F., & Temgoua, A. (2022). Future water levels of the Great Lakes under 1.5 °C to 3 °C warmer climates. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 48(4), 865–875. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2022.05.012
Shrestha, N. K., Seglenieks, F., Temgoua, A. G. T., & Dehghan, A. (2022). The Impacts of Climate Change on Land Hydroclimatology of the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin. Frontiers in Water, 4. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frwa.2022.801134
Xu, X., Frey, S. K., & Ma, D. (2022). Hydrological performance of ERA5 and merra-2 precipitation products over the Great Lakes Basin. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 39, 100982. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2021.100982
VanDeWeghe, A., Lin, V., Jayaram, J., & Gronewold, A. D. (2022). Changes in Large Lake Water Level Dynamics in Response to Climate Change. Frontiers in Water, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2022.805143
Kayastha, M. B., Ye, X., Huang, C., & Xue, P. (2022). Future rise of the Great Lakes water levels under climate change, Journal of Hydrology, 612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.128205.
GLISA. Future Climate Scenarios for Great Lakes Cities (2022). https://glisa.umich.edu/future-climate-scenarios-for-great-lakes-cities/
Krantzberg, G., Chen, B., Sun, R., Li, W., Cheng, K. (2022). Use of a Climate Change Scenario Analysis Tool to Anticipate Various Futures Associated with Extreme Urban Flooding. Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences Research, 4(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4006041
Schmitt, K.; Krska, R.; Deloria, C.; Shannon, P.D.; Cooper, M.; Eash, J.; Haugland, J.; Johnson, S.E.; Johnson, S.M.; Magee, M.R..; Mayne, G.; Nelson, C.; Nigg, C.; Sidie-Slettedahl, A.; Brandt, L., Handler, S.; Janowiak, M.; Butler-Leopold, P.; Ontl, T.; and Swanston, C. (2022). Strategies for Adapting Great Lakes Coastal Ecosystems to Climate Change. White Paper. Houghton, MI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Northern Forests Climate Hub. 61 p. https://doi.org/10.32747/2022.7816961.ch
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. Climate Projections for Niagara Region (2022). https://niagararegion.ca/official-plan/pdf/climate-projections.pdf
Previous Summary Documents
2021
2021 English Version (PDF) | 2021 French Version (PDF) | 2021 References
2020
2020 English Version (PDF) | 2020 French Version (PDF) | 2020 References
2019
2019 English Version (PDF) | 2019 French Version (PDF) | 2019 References
2018
2018 English Version (PDF) | 2018 French Version (PDF) | 2018 References
2017
2017 English Version (PDF) | 2017 French Version (PDF) | 2017 References