The speed of 138.21mph achieved by Emirates Team New Zealand and Glenn Ashby in Horonuku on 11th of December at Lake Gairdner in South Australia has been officially ratified and confirmed as the new World Record Speed of a wind powered land yacht by the World Land Sailing Organisation, Federation International de Sand et Land Yachting (FISLY).
Jan 3, 2024
According to data from NOAA and the North American Ice Service, the world’s ice is in serious trouble not only in the polar regions but also in the Great Lakes, partly due to climate change. Lake Ice in the Great Lakes has declined over the past fifty years, and this year will be no exception, warned researchers.
“It’s an extreme number, that said, it is early in the season, and there is year-to-year variability. But on average, we are seeing less ice cover and shorter seasons.” ” James Kessler, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL).
From The Washington Post’s (not behind a paywall) Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff writes:
On the first of the year, only 0.35 percent of the Great Lakes was under ice, below the roughly 9 percent that on average at this point in the winter, according to data from GLERL. On New Year’s Day 2023, more than 4 percent of the Great Lakes was covered in ice, while 2.35 percent was covered in ice on Jan. 1, 2022.
Kessler cautioned that while Monday’s low is remarkable, one-day lows are not as statistically significant as month-long lows. He added that maximum ice cover, or the point in the winter with the highest percentage of the Great Lakes with ice coverage, usually occurs in February and March, and that January is early in the season. (In 2023, the Great Lakes’ ice cover hit a record mid-February low.)
Still, the drops are expected to continue as the earth keeps warming, with implications across industries and environments.
Robust ice cover protects lake shorelines from high waves that can bring severe flooding and damage the coastline, according to Kessler. Some microorganisms use the ice as a safe haven to spawn and lay eggs. A lack of ice coverage can lead to more severe snow storms because an unfrozen lake is a prerequisite for “lake effect” snow.
Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff notes that according to the North American Ice Service, the five Great Lakes, Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie lake ice cover will be below normal this winter as the region had warmer than usual temperatures in December and that January will be similarly warm.
He also noted that the average annual maximum is approximately 53 percent. That number also has declined by five percent per decade since the 1970s.
The Great Lakes region depends on strong, thick, and widespread lake ice for tourism in towns with ice fishing and ice hockey contests.
Eurasian lynx have snowshoe-like feet that give them a competitive edge in catching prey on thick snow.
New England Ice Yacht Association 
The speed of 138.21mph achieved by Emirates Team New Zealand and Glenn Ashby in Horonuku on 11th of December at Lake Gairdner in South Australia has been officially ratified and confirmed as the new World Record Speed of a wind powered land yacht by the World Land Sailing Organisation, Federation International de Sand et Land Yachting (FISLY).
Picture of the craft is here:
https://www.sail-world.com/news/257034/New-World-Land-Yachting-speed-record-ratified
02/06/2024 at 10:06 am
Jan 3, 2024
According to data from NOAA and the North American Ice Service, the world’s ice is in serious trouble not only in the polar regions but also in the Great Lakes, partly due to climate change. Lake Ice in the Great Lakes has declined over the past fifty years, and this year will be no exception, warned researchers.
“It’s an extreme number, that said, it is early in the season, and there is year-to-year variability. But on average, we are seeing less ice cover and shorter seasons.” ” James Kessler, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL).
From The Washington Post’s (not behind a paywall) Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff writes:
On the first of the year, only 0.35 percent of the Great Lakes was under ice, below the roughly 9 percent that on average at this point in the winter, according to data from GLERL. On New Year’s Day 2023, more than 4 percent of the Great Lakes was covered in ice, while 2.35 percent was covered in ice on Jan. 1, 2022.
Kessler cautioned that while Monday’s low is remarkable, one-day lows are not as statistically significant as month-long lows. He added that maximum ice cover, or the point in the winter with the highest percentage of the Great Lakes with ice coverage, usually occurs in February and March, and that January is early in the season. (In 2023, the Great Lakes’ ice cover hit a record mid-February low.)
Still, the drops are expected to continue as the earth keeps warming, with implications across industries and environments.
Robust ice cover protects lake shorelines from high waves that can bring severe flooding and damage the coastline, according to Kessler. Some microorganisms use the ice as a safe haven to spawn and lay eggs. A lack of ice coverage can lead to more severe snow storms because an unfrozen lake is a prerequisite for “lake effect” snow.
405316150_10160935683489110_5024936174499639846_n.jpg
Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff notes that according to the North American Ice Service, the five Great Lakes, Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie lake ice cover will be below normal this winter as the region had warmer than usual temperatures in December and that January will be similarly warm.
He also noted that the average annual maximum is approximately 53 percent. That number also has declined by five percent per decade since the 1970s.
The Great Lakes region depends on strong, thick, and widespread lake ice for tourism in towns with ice fishing and ice hockey contests.
Eurasian lynx have snowshoe-like feet that give them a competitive edge in catching prey on thick snow.
01/03/2024 at 10:16 am