Posted on 06/03/2019 11:14:08 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
Water levels on Lake Ontario have reached the highest point in recorded history, putting the Toronto Islands at risk of significant flooding.
Current levels have reached 76.03 metres above sea level, topping the previous record of 75.93 metres which was set in 2017 when the islands were inundated with water.
Ferry service to Hanlan's Point has been suspended and the area around Gibraltar Point has been closed off as a result. Worse, strong winds are expected on Thursday afternoon, something that could lead to "significant wave action," local Coun. Joe Cressy warned.
"This is a difficult time for local residents, who are also working tirelessly to protect the Islands. We are all grateful for volunteer assistance from visitors and the public," Cressy said in a tweet.
City officials say the winds and rising lake levels could lead to further breaches of the Islands' shoreline, which has been heavily sandbagged in anticipation of flooding.
Cressy said city workers pumped between 20 and 30 centimetres of water from Algonquin Island after lake water breached the area on Wednesday.
Crews are now working "around the clock" to protect the Islands, he added.
The operation includes 30 pumps, 24,000 sandbags and 30 large meter bags in especially vulnerable areas.
The city has been spending $100,000 per week since April in a bid to mitigate flooding, which devastated the Islands in 2017.
Canada over-compensated by limiting water entering the Saint Lawrence River.
The last few years nature decided to refill the lakes with heavy rain and snow.
Now Lake Ontario is at record levels.
Erosion is a major problem:
It’s not just Lake Ontario. All the Great Lakes are at high levels.
oh noes- it must be being caused by ‘man-caused global warming’ melting the miles thick glaciers covering it
Does this mean there are no longer 1000 Islands where Lake Ontario dumps into the St Lawrence?
Are they now called the 995 Islands?
I didn’t realize that Toronto had it’s own cluster of islands. Geographically, that sounds like a nice place to live, but I have no idea who populates those islands or the standard of living.
Maybe Ontario can do some digging and create a long trench to ease some of that water away. Or has that already been tried?
rain.
Water levels are high and have been high in the north east and NYS. They were high last autumn and continue to be high this summer. The firepond is as high as it usually is in the spring.
But Lake Ontario has been made worse because Canada limited water into the St. Lawrence because the level had dropped (which they blamed on man made global warming).
Lake Ontario is the recipient of all the overflow from the other lakes and Canada closed the drain.
Yes I know- i was being facetious- making the roundabout statement that global warming has always happened and is what is responsible for our great lakes today- I’m sure the left will be trying to blame the heavy rain and snow flooding on climate change- so i thought i preempt their accusation that ‘man is bad because of floods’ by pointing out that nature caused massive miles high glaciers to melt before man was releasing CO2
Well yeah since the polar ice caps are melting. Well, the north pole anyway. Since it’s winter down unduh.
It must be Trump’s fault.
If only Trump had not pulled us out of the Paris global warming agreement, Mother Nature would not have caused this flooding.
Sarcasm.
Water levels in lake Ontario were falling. Canada blamed man made global warming and limited water entering into the St. Lawrence River.
Then it rained and snowed.
Canada refuses to admit they made a mistake.
But digging is so messy!
How about just throwing lots of "Handiwipes" at the problem?
Regards,
But I was just at a hotel that had a sign in the bathroom asking me to use my towel more than once to conserve water!!!! hahahahahahaha
Record-low water levels, rise in algal blooms among concerns linked to changing Great Lakes climate
by Tim Anderson ~ February 2013 ~ Stateline Midwest »
In December, water levels on lakes Michigan and Huron reached an all-time recorded low.
And concerns about this trend have never been higher — as reflected in much of the discussion at a January meeting in Chicago that explored the new Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
For the first time in its 41-year history, the binational pact makes adapting to climate change a priority for action on both sides of the border.
Though they have always fluctuated, the recent low readings in lakes Michigan and Huron have led many to conclude that “we have reached a tipping point,” noted John Nevin of the International Joint Commission (IJC), with warmer air and water temperatures leading to increased evaporation of Great Lakes waters.
“The commission is very concerned about it,” Nevin said at the meeting, which was sponsored by the IJC as well as the Alliance for the Great Lakes and Consulate General of Canada in Chicago.
But can concerns about lower water levels and other climate-change impacts be translated into meaningful action?
As many meeting speakers and participants noted, part of the challenge for Great Lakes policymakers is taking action in the face of many unknowns — how much the climate will change in the coming decades, for example, and how it will impact the ecosystem.
Current forecasts of lake levels, Nevin said, show that they will be lower than normal over the next 30 years, but remain within the six feet of fluctuating levels recorded during different periods of the 20th century.
“Beyond 30 years,” he said, “ it is unknown.”
Lower water levels affect boaters and shippers, shoreland owners and users, and Great Lakes habitat and wetlands.
At least over the short term, the low water levels have led to calls for more state-level investments in the dredging of ports and harbors. Another potential government response is to make structural changes in the St. Clair River — a move that would boost water levels in lakes Michigan and Huron but also raise concerns about the impact in other parts of the basin.
Rise in algal blooms, sewage overflows among other effects
Low water levels are only one of the many potential consequences of climate change.
My how things change in 6 short years. Climate be crazy.
AKA 0.1 meters or 3.9" of water.
Turn off the wind.
Letting out enough water to reduce Lake Ontario by 1 inch raises the level of the St. Lawrence at Montreal by 11 inches.
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