A fisherman sits in the sun outside a popup shelter while ice fishing on frozen Lake Wentworth, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, in Wolfeboro, N.H. The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department is warning people to stay off the ice on Lake Champlain due to unsafe conditions and an annual ice fishing derby was canceled after three men fell through the ice and died this past week while ice fishing. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Unseasonably warm weather in the Northeast is not only impacting the lives of Americans but it also paints a clearer picture of the state of climate change.
The deaths of three fishermen in Vermont are prompting officials to levy warnings about winter activities. All three men died on Lake Champlain after falling through thin layers of ice. Typically around this time of year, ice is thick enough to withstand weight but warm weather has made it more difficult.
"All along, like we always do, we tell people to check ice conditions, talk to the bait shops and find out what people were saying about the thickness. And so I feel our messaging was right on target," Chris Herrick, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife told the Associated Press.
State officials tracked warming temperatures during the winter back 120 years and found that it has increased by .5 degrees fahrenheit per decade. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found, on a global scale, the increase is even more steep at .32 degrees fahrenheit per decade.
Over the last 50 years, winter temperatures have increased by nearly 3 degrees fahrenheit, according to Climate Central.
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