Michigan's Winter Wonderland: Get it while it's cold!
Figure 1. My dad on the snowmobile in January 2018 | Meredith Freeby.
Growing up, my family would take trips to Northern Michigan in the summers and occasionally in the winter. When I graduated high school in 2016, my parents made the decision to live there permanently. In the beginning years, neighbors would be snowmobiling in the winter and my parents began to get curious about this winter activity. By 2018, they decided to give it a shot and bought a snowmobile. Before the purchase, we didn’t think too much about the snow on the ground. But afterwards, we were paying close attention. Too little snow and it is unwise to take out your snowmobile. It could become damaged or stuck in the mud. We also enjoy taking it out on the nearby frozen lake, but this becomes dangerous in milder winters. Yet, living in Northern Michigan, we knew we would have enough snow to take out our new toy! But as years went on, we would become anxious waiting and waiting for enough snow to fall. By 2020, I’d be able to go on one sketchy snowmobile ride on my visits home for winter break.
Figure 2. My dad on the snowmobile in January 2020, the muddy ground visible beneath the tracks | Meredith Freeby.
Climate change is expected to reduce snow cover across the Midwest. These reductions could be mild or slow to appear, maybe even barely noticeable to the average person. But I know one thing for sure: my parents sold the snowmobile.
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The most interesting thing for me in this course was reading The Death and Life of the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes are so majestic and beautiful to me; I love learning about them. I didn’t know about all of the almost invisible damage that has occurred. I never really considered where all the invasive species I’ve learned about were coming from or if their entrance was being managed. The most surprising thing from the book for me was the introduction of the salmon. I still can’t believe one person (motivated by recreation and not the natural, ecological health of the lake) was able to make a decision that changed the course of the Great Lakes ecosystem. Thanks for a great session everyone!! :)
Meridith,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the fact that you were able to provide your figures through personal experience, but they are also totally relevant and paint an excellent picture of the microcosmic impacts of climate change! The fact you had consistent photos of the snowmobiling across the two year time frame is great. I think it would be helpful if you perhaps included where exactly in Northern Michigan you would take trips, as it is a large state so some specificity in that regard could help add to this post. Furthermore, either anecdotally or with data, I was wondering if you could illuminate some of the temperature differences you have noticed throughout your time there? The ground clearly seems warmer, but climate change is marked by its extremes. I was wondering if you have noticed perhaps more extreme precipitation events, or perhaps more extreme years of drought since going up north? I would assume the latter due to reduced snow cover, but I am not sure from the post. Either way, I love the anecdotal evidence and the snowmobiling tie in! It is a shame you had to sell it.
Hi Merideth, Nice post. I thought it was really interesting how you noticed a decrease in snow cover over the years in Michigan and I think that similar affects have happened in Wisconsin. I have also noticed less snow and shorter winters which have increased precipitation. Also, similarity to you I enjoyed hearing about your snowmobiling hobby and how it worsened over the years. For me this was with fishing, over time I have found that areas of clear water have increased vegetation making them unfishable and making it harder for me to enjoy the hobby like I used too. This leads me to the question of how will similar hobbies especially wintertime ones continue in with climate change and how will it affect other aspects of Wisconsin or any Midwest state?
ReplyDeleteHer Meridith!
ReplyDeleteLooks like we wrote about the same subject. Clearly snowmobiling is an important cultural component for both of our dads, and the northern Midwest in general! With you talking about northern Michigan (i.e. the Snowbelt), do you think that climate change will severely impact the snowbase soon in Michigan? Or, will it really only impact the southern reaches of snowmobile country for the foreseeable future? Michigan gets SO much snow that I wonder if there is a strong buffer against climate change's impact on snowmobiling.