A recent University of Minnesota Duluth study claims that Lake Superior is a prime example of global warming and its effects.

The "ice road" to Madeline Island begins to break up in Spring of each year.

According to a recent article in the Duluth News-Tribune, the Lake Superior winter ice cover has, in general, diminished over the last thirty years, with a corresponding rise in average lake water temperature.  And another study by a local Bayfield resident who researched weather data back to 1857 claims that today we are seeing an average of forty-five fewer ice-covered days in our area of Chequamegon Bay than there were in the mid-1800s. 

The article goes on to send a warning about the future of the winter ice cover between Bayfield and LaPointe, suggesting (if the purported trend continues) that by around 2040 there will be virtually no days of solid ice cover between the mainland and Madeline Island.

Is is a bit premature to sound the alarm about diminishing Lake Superior ice?

You might not put a lot of stock in either of these studies based on the ice situation last year and this year.  At the beginning of March 2008, we had nearly thirty inches of ice in some spots between Bayfield and Madeline Island. 

This season, we're experiencing a rather early freeze-up.  The Madeline Island Ferry Line shut down operations on New Year's Day and it looks like we'll have an ice road soon. 

At stake is the future of the "ice road" between Bayfield and Madeline Island.  In many ways, winter ice thick enough to support cars and light trucks is a huge economic benefit to Islanders and visitors.  It provides local residents with a brief holiday from paying ferry fees.  And it also offers the freedom to come and go around the clock, rather than being tied to a transportation schedule, provided that the ice is thick enough and in good shape.

Is the reduced number of ice-covered days a long-term trend or merely a cyclic event?  The thirty-year study seems to me to be an inadequate time period in order to establish a definite pattern.  More research is likely needed to determine if the Chequamegon Bay ice situation is as serious as these studies suggest.