"If climate change isn’t stopped soon, the impacts of the change will become much worse in Michigan."

Here is the weather forecast for Metro Detroit.

Data shows that Detroit’s temperature normals have increased over the last century.

DETROIT – Today is the start of meteorological spring (astronomical spring, formally called the vernal equinox, begins March 20). For climatological purposes, we use the calendar months of March, April and May for our spring statistics, and global warming is having an impact on those stats. Check out this short video (above) -- it’s less than a minute and won’t waste your time. Trust me: I’ve received plenty of it over the years (some of it so untrue, misleading and sensationalistic that it made me angry), and all of it goes into the trash. Related: Climate change explainer: Earth is warming but winters could get worse -- here’s why

This article was first published in the “In This Climate” Newsletter, a periodical newsletter looking at the impact of climate change in Michigan. How is climate change impacting Michigan right now -- and how will it impact Michigan in the future? He has studied weather and climate for decades, and has been reporting on climate change since the early 1990s (before it was on other meteorologist’s radar). UN report : Humans are making Earth a broken and increasingly unlivable planet through climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Humans are making Earth a broken and increasingly unlivable planet through climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

"Michigan needs to become a leader in transitioning the state to low-carbon energy, and eliminating all forms of greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 or earlier."

According to data from Climate Central, across all the Great Lakes the annual maximum ice cover is, on average, 22% lower than it was a half-century ago. Furthermore, ice coverage is becoming less reliable, with more frequent years of extremely low ice coverage. Based upon ice coverage charts from the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab in Ann Arbor, ice cover on the five Great Lakes peaked at an average of 47% this winter (with shallow Lake Erie skewing the numbers upward with its 80% ice coverage…the other four Great Lakes all peaked at or below 50% ice cover). This compares to an average ice cover for all five lakes of 53% in the 1973-2020 time period. AdMore information: Great Lakes Ice Coverage is ShrinkingRelated:

A new study finds that cleaner air from the pandemic lockdown warmed the planet a bit in 2020, especially in places such as the eastern United States, Russia and China. Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021 study found the pandemic lockdown reduced soot and sulfate air pollution, but those particles also reflect the sun's heat and help cool areas briefly. (AP Photo)Earth spiked a bit of a fever in 2020, partly because of cleaner air from the pandemic lockdown, a new study found. His calculations come from comparing 2020 weather to computer models that simulated a 2020 without the pollution reductions from pandemic lockdowns. “Clean air warms the planet a tiny bit, but it kills a lot fewer people with air pollution,” Gettelman said.

Often, we think of climate change as a thing that will happen many years from now. But that’s no longer the case. Climate change is happening right now, and its impacts can be seen across Michigan.

The differences in average global temperatures among the three warmest years – 2016, 2019 and 2020 – are indistinguishably small. The average global temperature in 2020 was about 14.9°C, 1.2 (± 0.1) °C above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) level. For instance, the United States reported a record 22 billion-dollar disasters in 2020, which was the nation’s fifth warmest year on record. NASA and Copernicus Climate Change Service estimate that 2020 is jointly the warmest year on record together with 2016. NOAA and the United Kingdom’s HadCRUT dataset both ranked 2020 as the second warmest behind 2016, with JRA ranking 2020 as the third warmest.

Geneva, 2 December 2020 (WMO) - Climate change continued its relentless march in 2020, which is on track to be one of the three warmest years on record. 2011-2020 will be the warmest decade on record, with the warmest six years all being since 2015, according to the World Meteorological Organization. “The average global temperature in 2020 is set to be about 1.2 °C above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) level. Despite the current La Niña conditions, this year has already shown near record heat comparable to the previous record of 2016,” said Prof. Taalas. Arctic sea ice for July and October 2020 was the lowest on record.

DETROIT – The average fall temperatures in Detroit have warmed 3.2 degrees (F) since 1970. Research from scientists at Climate Central shows that every part of the United States has experienced a warmer trend in fall temperatures since 1970. Fall Warming in America (Climate Central)Related: Detroit seeing increase in hotter than normal summer daysThe jagged line on the graphic represents the year-to-year average temperature. The solid line shows the warming trend. Fall warming in Detroit sine 1970 (Climate Central)Climate Central also shows Detroit is experiencing 14 more days with above average fall temperatures.