Given the cold water going into winter, the current “Ice Breaking Fleet” operating on the Great Lakes may be inadequate this year

A recent WUWT story notes the well below normal water temperature of the Great Lakes, some 6 degrees colder than last year. David DuByne writes, and a video follows:

With the Great Lakes at 92% ice coverage during the winter of 2013-2014 and far below average water temperatures this year in the lakes, ice will form earlier and last longer into spring. This will have an effect on shipping and delivery of cargo throughout the region disrupting the Great Lakes Economy.

The current “Ice Breaking Fleet” operating around the Great Lakes may be inadequate this year to keep channels open and assist ships trapped in ice. The evidence is all around to convince that the 2014-2015 winter will be the first “cold climate disruption to our economy” and a wake-up call that our infrastructure is vulnerable to the cooling downtrend that may run from 2014-2035.