Grand Traverse bay is this summer! It usually doesn't get tolerable until late August. It's the warmest I ever remember it.

Julie

attributed to Senator Inhoffe, aka I love to have my head in the sand while my ass is in the air.

The climate change deniers are simply off their rockers. We are experiencing climate change. We can debate the extent to which the change is attributable to man's activity. But we are experiencing a change that does not bode well for mankind's survival.

Even if the evidence on mankind's impact was questionable (which it isn't), wouldn't any sane person agree that we should look to minimize those activities that could be contributing to the climate change? That seems to be a no-brainer.

But not for the Talievangelicals, science-hating, family-trees-that-don't-fork crowd.

I can't stop laughing at that expression. Explains a lot.

This is just Al Gore's global warming hoax.

First off, yes I believe that climate change is real. And second, I grew up on Lake Michigan and have a deep appreciation for its beauty, majesty, and importance to the environment as a whole.

But comparing this year's temperatures to the AVERAGE of 20 years of data is TOTALLY meaningless without seeing the rest of the data -- Are this year's temps within a standard deviation of the average? Is it an outlier? There's no way to know from this graph.

Let's keep in mind that the temperature has been above average for approximately HALF of those years. Maybe this year is just one more of those. Or maybe it is a serious deviation from the norm.

If we're going to use science to demonstrate the validity of science, let's start by using it properly.

Lake Michigan Water Temperatures Reach Earliest 80 Degrees

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=lot&storyid=85152&source=0

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
1003 PM CDT FRI JUL 6 2012 /1103 PM EDT FRI JUL 6 2012/

...OPEN WATER TEMPERATURES OF SOUTHERN LAKE MICHIGAN REACH 80
DEGREES...

THE WATER TEMPERATURE AT THE SOUTH BUOY ON LAKE MICHIGAN REACHED 80 DEGREES ON FRIDAY JULY 6TH...WHICH IS REMARKABLE WARMTH FOR THE LAKE TO BEGIN WITH...BUT UNPRECEDENTED FOR THIS EARLY IN THE SUMMER SEASON. MONTHLY AIR TEMPERATURES HAVE BEEN ABOVE NORMAL FOR NINE CONSECUTIVE MONTHS IN CHICAGO...AND THAT WARMTH HAS TRANSLATED INTO WARM WATER TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE LAKE. THE PROLONGED HEAT WAVE OF EARLY JULY OVER THE REGION FURTHER ESCALATED THE WARMING OF THE LAKE AS WATER TEMPERATURES ROSE 10 DEGREES BETWEEN JULY 1ST AND 6TH!

THERE HAVE ONLY BEEN SIX PRIOR EPISODES SINCE 1981 WHERE THE
SOUTH BUOY WATER TEMPERATURE HAS REACHED 80 DEGREES. THESE WERE:

PERIOD NUMBER OF HOURS AT OR ABOVE 80 MAX WATER TEMPERATURE
-----------------------------------------------------------------
AUG 88 11 80
AUG 95 5 81
SEP 96 1 80
AUG 01 3 80
LATE JUL-AUG 10 13 80
JUL 11 1 80

ON FRIDAY...THE BUOY RECORDED TWO HOURLY READINGS OF 80 DEGREES.
THESE WERE THE EARLIEST 80 DEGREE WATER TEMPERATURES ON RECORD AT THIS SITE. THIS SURPASSES THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF JULY 21ST SET BOTH IN THE PAST TWO YEARS OF 2010 AND 2011.

WHAT IS EQUALLY AS REMARKABLE IS HOW FAR ABOVE AVERAGE THE WATER TEMPERATURE IS. LOOKING BACK AT THE AVERAGE JULY 6TH WATER
TEMPERATURE AT THAT BUOY SINCE 1981...THAT AVERAGE IS 63 DEGREES.
THE AVERAGE ON JULY 6TH 2012 WAS 78 DEGREES...15 DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL!

FOR POINT OF REFERENCE...THE SOUTH BUOY IS LOCATED 43 NAUTICAL
MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF MILWAUKEE. THE WATER DEPTH IS 528 FEET.
THE WATER TEMPERATURE IS RECORDED ABOUT 2 FT BELOW THE WATER
SURFACE.

I'm simply pointing out that THIS GRAPH does not provide a statistical justification for the conclusion.

And it isn't a matter of taking their opinion over mine. My opinion does not contradict theirs. My opinion is an observation about a GRAPH.

Moreover, when you read the text (as opposed to just examine the GRAPH), you see that, again, the data isn't presented in any way to VALIDATE the conclusions. I think it is very likely that the complete data does, in fact, do this. But summaries of summaries quickly become talking points. In and of themselves, they are meaningless, since their actual meaning is lost when it is distilled down so far.

Of course, if you prefer an ad hominem attack on me because I simply point out the incompleteness of the story, you are welcome to do so. It in no way invalidates my point. It does, however, cause me to question your honesty on the matter. One would think that someone armed with charts and graphs would be able to more deftly sway away the rambings of an anonymous poster.

My original comment still stands. The information presented does not allow for ANY reasoned conclusion. I'm sorry if you mis-interpret this simple statement as saying that I don't believe the conclusion. I do. But if I can poke a hole in the story as it is presented, imagine what an intelligent nay-sayer would be able to do.

Sorry that I don't have the patience to spend an hour trying to remember how to post a picture.

http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/statistic/avg-sst.php?lk=m&yr=0

More data is better. Now let's see...

Look, the temps for 2011 are much lower than the ones for 2010! And 2007 was way hotter than 2008 and 2009.

Does this graph convince me that temperatures in Lake Michigan are spiraling out of control? Nope. There isn't nearly enough data to show that. Year-to-year change isn't even vaguely predictable from this data. The 2012 numbers seem well within a standard deviation for much of the year.

Does this mean that the conclusions drawn in the OP are wrong? Nope. It means that this graph provides no evidence supporting the conclusion. Which was my point, I believe.

and we have great flooding and seacoast cities are wiped out.

Then after the flooding, after all the glaciers are melted, the heat starts to evaporate all the water on earth, including our oceans.

Then water becomes more valuable than gold or oil. The oceans become deserts over time. We are left to look for another planet to despoil and start the cycle all over again.

Then we stand on our new planet and look at the desolate deserts of Mars and Earth and with no memory of ever inhabiting either place...

consider other elements such as how fast the lakes cool and generally, they cool very fast when the weather is not so warm. The other thing to consider is what the state of the fishlife is or is not per the temp's.

I remember reading that at some point I think..