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Feb 26, 2007 12:13 pm US/Central
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Warmer Temperatures Shifting Northward
by Paul Douglas
(WCCO)
Minnesota's Northwoods are unique, a boreal forest of spruce, fern and pines that live in extreme cold, but our climate is shifting north and we are seeing a profound transformation right before our eyes.
"I would say two-thirds of our population are city-bound and out of touch," said Arctic explorer Will Steger. "Anyone that's close to the Earth is seeing, seeing something happening."
Steger is worried abut what he's seeing near his Northwoods home of Ely, Minn. Even the Boundary Waters Canoe Area is showing some of the effects of a subtle, gradual global warming trend.
"But really, what got me into global warming was seeing it first hand and first of all in Antarctica," Steger said. "And then also seeing the great changes in the last 15 years in the Arctic."
Steger knows the science. Five of the past six warmest years worldwide have been observed since 2001, and 10 of the warmest years since 1995. Steger has seen the effects up close.
"Is there any doubt in your mind that what we're seeing, could be a fluke, or do you think it's a trend?" WCCO-TV's Paul Douglas asked Steger.
"I believe in science," Steger said. "I'm 100 percent sure what we're experiencing is global warming. I've seen it first hand. We're seeing it more and more in Minnesota and I just totally believe, not believe, I know, you know, the earth is warming."
Fewer arctic fronts and fewer subzero nights are good news if you are trying to heat your home, but it's bad news in northern Minnesota's boreal forest.
Lee Frelich, with the University of Minnesota, is a world-renowned expert on trees. He sees signs of big change right now.
"Well if you look around, you see red maple saplings everywhere," Frelich said.
"And what does that mean?" Douglas asked.
"It means the climate is getting warmer and red maple is starting to replace the boreal forest," Frelich replied.
Another concern is that the bitter, sustained cold has become rarer in recent decades.
"Lee, back the 70s, we had seven or eight nights, 40 below or colder," Douglas said. "The last six winters, we've had one night of minus 40. What does that mean?"
"Well, a number of insects that are capable of killing trees are actually kept at bay by extreme winter cold temperatures," Frelich said.
In addition to the threat of insects killing millions of acres of forest, Frelich worries the trees are more susceptible to blow-down from severe summer windstorms, similar to the one that blew through on July 4, 1999.
In a warmer climate, fires may become more frequent and devastating, starting earlier in the season and lasting longer into the fall. Instead of rejuvenating the forest, fires could actually destroy large swaths of the Northwoods.
"And if we end up losing the boreal forest biome, we'll just, in terms of biodiversity, be a poorer place," Frelich said.
Steger worries what will happen to Minnesota's mythic quality of life. He is embarking on a three-month expedition to Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic.
"We're going to remote villages to document our personal observations and particularly what they have to say, their observations on how life is impacting them from global warming," Steger said. "We really want to put a personal, a real human heart on this issue."
Closer to home, Steger worries out loud about the changes he's witnessing in his own backyard.
"What's going to happen is, we're simply going to lose our pine forest and spruce forest up here," Steger said. "It's going to vanish and anyone that loves the pines in the Boundary Waters should be really aware of this."
Over the past 16 years, the planting zone has shifted 150 miles further north because the weather has been getting so much warmer.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)