The line graph highlights the greatest percentage of ice that covered Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and Lake Erie from 2000 to 2020. Overall, Lake Erie had the highest proportion of surface ice for the majority of the time period. Notably, all 3 lakes reported declines in percentages in the final five years.
Lake Superior and Lake Michigan followed similar trends for the duration of the study, each mirroring the others peaks and troughs. Initially, both lakes maintained a relatively stable percentage of surface covering for the first decade, with lake superior averaging 40 percent of the lake compared to 30 percent for lake Michigan. However, the pair then simultaneously rose dramatically between 2010 and 2015. During this period, lake superior tripled in percentage to over 90 percent, a greater incline than Lake Michigans, still impressive, 50 percent jump.
Lake Erie witnessed a much more consistent percentage over the first 15 years, only straying from the 90 percent mark ever so slightly between 2005 and 2010. In 2015, Lake Erie was briefly overtaken by Lake Superior, but after showing the least decline in surface ice covering of all 3 lakes across the last 5 years, reverted to its original position.