August 19, 2021 ☼ climate
Source: MPR News - Link
Little has changed since Camp Mishawaka opened in 1910. The woodshop, bunks and canoes are still there. But one thing that has changed quite a bit — the temperature.
The Grand Rapids, Minn., summer camp sits in one of the fastest warming areas on the planet. Minnesota’s boreal forest has warmed twice as fast as the global average.
Climate change is affecting everything from campers’ schedules — warmer nights lead to less sleep and later mornings — to the kinds of trees on the property. And Camp Mishawaka isn’t alone; a major insurer of summer camps has pulled out of the business as camps on the coasts lose property to wildfires and hurricanes.
This doesn’t even mention the drought that is lowering water levels everywhere in northern MN. The forest is changing and may not be able to change fast enough. Lots of tinder.