Scientists: Climate-Whipped Winds Pose Great Lakes Hazards

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A newly published report says powerful wind gusts linked to global warming are harming water quality in Lake Erie and perhaps elsewhere in the Great Lakes.

The study by scientists at Canada's University of Guelph says extreme wind events in summer churn up water in Erie's central basin that is low in oxygen and high in phosphorus.

They propel it into the western section of the lake, which is already overloaded with phosphorus.

That poses a hazard for fish and insects on which they feed.

The study says those heavy winds are happening more frequently as climate change brings more extreme weather.

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