On Thin Ice: Effects of a Historically Warm Winter on Ice Fishing

By: Neal Manor, Staff Member 

Generations of young children in the northern United States are familiar with two caveats related to walking over or skating on frozen lakes in the winter: “Thick and blue, tried and true – thin and crispy, way too risky” and “when in doubt, don’t go out.”

Climate change has brought the concerns inherent in these warnings more squarely into the consciousness of those who engage in the long-held tradition of ice fishing.  Although ice fishing is not nearly as vital for harvesting biotic natural resources such as fish as other methods, it represents a “

social activity that binds the community and gives the elders and young people the rare opportunity during the year to harvest traditional foods.”

[1]

December 2011 and January 2012 temperatures in the contiguous United States were almost four degrees above average.

[2]

These warmer average temperatures have been centered in the Midwest and Great Plains.

[3]

  Minnesota, for example, had its warmest December and January since officials began keeping records in 1896, as temperatures in that state have been more than 10 degrees above average.

[4]

These warmer temperatures have put a chill on ice fishing in places where it is an important tradition for harvesting biotic natural resources such as trout, herring, and whitefish.  Last year, Minnesota’s second largest ice fishing tournament came and went without a single fish being caught.

[5]

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources claimed that Lake Agnes was well-stocked and that there was sufficient oxygen in the water.

[6]

Officials at the tournament blamed the warm temperatures for sending over 2,000 anglers home empty-handed.  Not only are the fish not biting, but law enforcement officials have taken necessary precautions to cut down on ice fishing.  Sheriff Rick Stanek banned all driving of large vehicles (cars, trucks, and SUVs) on Hennepin County, Minnesota lakes on February 9, 2012.

[7]

The warm temperatures are causing decreased ice thickness and formation later in the season.  As a result, several mishaps have occurred which necessitated actions along the lines of those taken by Sheriff Stanek.  People or vehicles have fallen through the ice eight times on Hennepin County lakes.

[8]

  On February 8, 2012, in De Pere, WI, eight fishermen were stranded when the 100-foot chunk of ice they were fishing on broke off and floated into the Fox River near Green Bay.

[9]

  Firefighters in a rubber boat had to rescue the fishermen.

[10]

The warm temperatures and incidents where fishermen and women have fallen through the ice have caused the untimely demise of the ice fishing season in the Midwest and Great Plains. Winter anglers in Hennepin County now face a March 5

th

deadline to remove their ice houses.

[11]

  The distinct possibility of additional accidents has forced the cancellation of numerous ice fishing competitions, derbies, and demonstrations from Montana to Iowa.

[12]

  Such cancellations and limitations represent less publicized consequences of climate change and signal that warming trends endanger the important tradition of ice fishing.      

[1]

Mary Beth West,

Arctic Warming: Environmental, Human, and Security Implications

,

42 Vand. J. Transnat'l L. 1081, 1096

(2009).

[2]

Monica Davey,

The Warmth of Winter is Casting a Chill on Ice Fishing

,

The New York Times

(Feb. 18, 2012), http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/us/warm-winter-is-casting-a-chill-on-ice-fishing.html?_r=1&hpw.

[3]

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,

January 2012 the fourth warmest for the contiguous United States,

http://www.noaa.gov/features/02_monitoring/jan_stats.html (last visited Feb. 19, 2012).

[4]

Id.

[5]

No Fish Caught at MN’s 2nd Largest Ice Fishing Tournament,

CBS Minnesota

(Feb. 15, 2011) http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/02/15/no-fish-minnesotas-2nd-largest-ice-fishing-tournament-alexandria-minnesota/.

[6]

Id.

[7]

People heeding Hennepin County ban on driving on

ice,

Minneapolis Star Tribune

(Feb. 18, 2012), http://www.startribune.com/local/west/139588663.html.

[8]

Id.

[9]

Davey,

supra

note 2.

[10]

Id.

[11]

People heeding Hennepin County ban on driving on

ice,

Minneapolis Star Tribune

(Feb. 18, 2012), http://www.startribune.com/local/west/139588663.html.

[12]

Davey,

supra

note 2.

Climate Change is Heating Up in Courts

By: Peter Rottgers, Senior Staff Member

Climate change is a hot topic that is apparently getting steamier. The big questions posed by the issue of climate change still loom large. What is the cause, what is going to happen, and what should we do? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that the global temperature increased somewhere between 1.0 and 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit last century.[1] Depending on which reputable scientist you ask, this is either no big deal[2], or a prelude to the worst parts of the Bible.[3]

In addition to the fact that climate change might threaten the welfare of the entire human race, a lot of money is at stake. When a lot of money is at stake, people litigate. While the economic impacts of climate change are broad, two of the parties that seem to be most directly affected are the industries that produce greenhouse gases (GHGs) and climate change scientists. Industries that extract and combust fossil fuels are one of the primary producers of GHGs.[4] Of the GHGs produced by fossil fuel combustion, coal accounts for approximately 25% of all emissions.[5] Because the coal industry will be affected, Kentucky will be too.

The coal industry employs over 17,000 Kentuckians directly, and claims to have created over 53,000 total jobs.[6] The latter number represents about 2.5% of the state’s workforce.[7] Kentucky coal is sold to 30 states and four foreign countries, bringing in billions of dollars and generating millions in tax revenue.[8] If coal remains a viable energy resource, Kentucky will remain a major player in the energy industry because only 17% of the state’s coal supply has been extracted.[9] Coal means a lot to the people of this state.

Climate change might mean as much to the scientists that research it. Government grants awarded to scientists specializing in climate research have risen significantly in recent years.[10] Some scientists saw up to 600% increases in grants received last decade compared to those received in the 1990s.[11] Additionally, some have alleged that the scientific community has behaved in an uncharacteristically uncivil manor in regards to these grants.[12] Accusations of dissenting scientists being blackballed by the scientific community are far from uncommon.[13] Because there is large monetary incentive for scientists and green science supporting organizations to achieve certain results in the field of climate change, some have called the conclusions reached into question.[14] The issue has found its way into courts.

The Supreme Court of Virginia has recently taken such a case.[15] Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a climate change skeptic, filed a request under the state’s Fraud Against Tax Payers Act for the research documents of climate scientist Michael Mann, who was employed by the University of Virginia.[16] Similar requests have been made of other climate scientists through the use of the Freedom of Information Act.[17] Cuccinelli suspects that the climate science produced by Mann is baseless, and therefore Mann has defrauded the Commonwealth of Virginia by using public money to produce junk science in an effort to secure grant money .[18] The University of Virginia claims it is immune from such requests because it is an agent of the Commonwealth and not an individual.[19]

Some argue that if Cuccinelli’s request were granted, it would set a precedent that could hinder academic freedom.[20] It could also be a tool for opponents of green science to harass their adversaries.

Litigation can be a powerful weapon, and its use could have significant impact on the climate change debate. The prospect of being dragged into court might deter researchers from generating junk science to get bigger paychecks, but litigation against climate scientists might also be used to bully honest researchers out of doing important work on an issue that affects every living and unborn person. Fortunately, the green community has stepped up to the plate. In an effort to ensure a fair fight, the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF) has recently affiliated with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.[21] The CSLDF provides funding for legal representation to climate scientists facing the prospect of litigation.[22]

Hopefully, initiatives like the CSLDF will ensure that questions regarding the validity of climate research are properly answered when they are litigated. The future policies on climate change need to be based on the best information possible because so much is at stake. If good science suggests that further regulation and downsizing of industries like Kentucky coal is necessary for the welfare of the human race, then those actions should be taken, but the people of Kentucky should not have to endure further regulation, or even an eventual moratorium, on their most valuable natural resource based on faulty theories.

[1] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ (last visited Feb. 1, 2012).

[2]See U.S. Senate Minority Report: More Than 700 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims, Scientists Continue to Debunk “Consensus” in 2008 & 2009 (2009), available at http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/.

[3] EPA, supra note 1.

[4] World Coal Association, http://www.worldcoal.org/coal-the-environment/climate-change/ (last visited Feb. 1, 2012).

[5]Id.

[6] Kentucky Office of Energy Policy & Kentucky Coal Association, Kentucky Coal Facts I (10th ed. 2008) available at http://www.kentuckycoal.org/documents/CoalFacts08.pdf.

[7]See Press Release, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary (Jan. 24, 2012) available at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.nr0.htm.

[8] Kentucky Office of Energy Policy, supra note 6, at i.

[9]Id.

[10] Bret Stephens, Climategate:Follow the Money, Climate change researchers must believe in the reality of global warming just as a priest must believe in the existence of God. Wall St. J. L. Blog (Dec. 1, 2009, 10:40 AM), http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703939404574566124250205490.html.

[11]Id.

[12]Id.

[13]Id.

[14]Id.

[15] Jim Nolan, Va. Supreme Court Takes Up Climate Case, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Jan. 13, 2012, available at http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/virginia-politics/2012/jan/13/tdmet02-va-supreme-court-takes-up-cuccinelli-uva-c-ar-1607802.

[16]Id.

[17]Id.

[18]Id.

[19]Id.

[20] Nolan, supra note 15.

[21] Andrew C. Revkin, A Legal Defense Fund for Climate Scientists, Dot Earth N.Y. Times Blog (Jan. 15, 2012, 6:46 AM), http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/a-legal-defense-fund-for-climate-scientists.

[22]Id.