Lake Hopatcong is the largest body of fresh water in New Jersey at four square miles. It is forty miles distant from Manhattan almost due east. In the winter of 1926, 21 iceboats on blades sailed across it over a three-mile course. Workers flocked from New York to carve blocks of ice. However, since climate change arrived, those ice hockey winters are apparently gone forever more.
The Character of New Jersey Changed Since Climate Change Arrived
A century of rising temperatures culminated in eleven of the past twelve skating competitions not happening. That’s because the ice was perilously thin according to The Washington Post, and a tumble into frigid water was quite perilous. Moreover, the average temperature of the Garden State rose two degrees celsius since 1895.
To put that in context that’s twice the average for the lower 48 states since climate change arrived. That therefore puts NJ on the critical bridge the 2015 Paris Accord promised never to cross. If the rest of the planet follows suit, then almost all the coral reefs will die. The summer Arctic Shield will begin to disappear, as Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets unleash a massive sea level rise.
Global Warming Does Not Happen Evenly in All U.S. States
The Washington Post warns another 3,107 counties in the United States are above, or approaching the two degree Celsius mark. Alaska is the fastest warming but Rhode Island crossed over first.
The Northeast is particularly vulnerable, especially New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts. Thinning ice in Lake Hopatcong no longer controls aquatic weeds. Blue-green algae bloomed at the height of summer. The consequences of global warming are more complex than we imagine. The authorities had to close the lake from fishing and swimming for several weeks at the height of season.
America’s hot spots are siren warnings, says maritime scientist Daniel Pauly. ““Basically,” he says, “these hot spots are chunks of the future in the present” since climate change arrived.
Related
Climate Warming in the United States
North America Climate Change: United States
Preview Image: Winter in Lake Hopatcong in the 1930’s
