I grew up camping, hiking, riding ATVs and snowmobiles, fishing, kayaking, and birdwatching: all of which led me to pursue a career in environmental education, with a focus on recreation. The future of these recreational opportunities that I care so deeply about, along with our overall quality of life, is dependent on current and projected climate change patterns.

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in weather patterns and temperatures over an area. Human activities, like burning fossil fuels, have produced unprecedented amounts of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, over the past century. These gases have been released into the atmosphere where they trap energy and reflect it as heat back to Earth, causing the global average temperature to become warmer at a relatively astonishing rate.

Climate change has become a headlining issue over the past decade. On a global scale, climate change is causing hotter temperatures, more severe storms, increased drought, warmer oceans, rising sea levels, loss of species, food scarcity, and more health risks. Although our region does not experience all of these effects, other people around the world do. H

You might be wondering, how is global warming affecting a region historically pummeled by lake effect snow? Shouldn’t we be experiencing less snowfall in the winter? The short answer is no. Lake Erie is the smallest in water volume of all the Great Lakes, so it will be the most vulnerable to the implications of climate change. For this reason, Lake Erie is the most sensitive to changes in air temperature: it has less heat storage capacity in comparison to the other Great Lakes. Warmer temperatures are actually leading to more lake effect snow because, according to photographic evidence from NASA, the annual ice cover on Lake Erie is decreasing. Since the lake is not freezing over in the winter, the cold air masses that move over the lake will pick up more water vapor that will rise through the colder air above and deposit more snow in our region.

In this region, climate change will cause Lake Erie to suffer the brunt of its extensive impacts. Water levels naturally fluctuate in the Great Lakes, but these fluctuations are becoming more and more extreme. Unfortunately, these levels can be unpredictable and costly to manage, as we have seen along Lake Shore Drive in Dunkirk. Storms are becoming more extreme and causing more damaging impacts because they have heightened tendencies to develop rapidly and dump substantial amounts of precipitation within a short period of time.

The infrastructure of our neighborhoods was not designed to handle these strong storms that produce flash flooding. Due to the prevailing winds and the geography of the Great Lakes region, Lake Erie creates a lake seiche along our shorelines, where persistent winds push water toward the coast and break walls. Lately, these effects have intensified in frequency and strength causing more structural damage, worsened flooding, and increased costs of repair. Alas, we have more asphalt and concrete than greenspace and wetland areas that buffer and filter flooding and storm water runoff, which aid in preventing pollution from infiltrating our homes, yards, and waterways.

This pollution contributes to the unfortunate toxic legacy of our Great Lakes, historically caused by industries that had little regard for the environment. Due to various consequences of climate change, the Great Lakes are still vulnerable today. Not only do the lakes contain 20% of the world’s fresh water supply, but they also provide drinking water to more than 40 million people.

It is also important to recognize that residents ages 65 and older around the world are especially sensitive to or at risk of exposure to certain effects of climate change, such as poor air quality, infectious diseases, and extreme weather events like heat waves, floods, and droughts. Different psychological, physiological, and socioeconomic factors contribute to this vulnerability in elderly citizens: increased social isolation, financial status, higher sensitivity to extreme temperatures, and increased prevalence of certain medical conditions, diseases, and functional limitations.

Unfortunately, climate change is real, whether you choose to believe it or not. We will have to make modifications to our current way of life to adapt to the projected changes mentioned above. Adaptation measures refer to adjusting our daily lives to reduce these current and predicted impacts of climate change. In terms of adaptation, be prepared for winters with even more snow, worse lakeshore and neighborhood flooding, poorer lake conditions, and less biodiversity, along with a myriad of other changes. Climate change will affect every aspect of our daily lives, and it will expend its impacts on our health and well-being. Luckily, there are actions we can take now to mitigate these impacts. We can make these projected impacts less severe by reducing or overall preventing the emission of greenhouse gases. You can make a difference by reducing personal usage and over-application of pesticides and fertilizers, as well as changing your routine transportation.

You can also call our state and federal elected officials to voice concerns and extend your support for policies that regulate and reduce emissions. If nothing else, I hope this briefing has helped you to recognize the reality of climate change.

Brandy Schroeder is a Forestville resident who attends Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua.