Global warming news: Coast Guard says Lake Michigan ice breaking could last into late May

Lake Michigan in January

Last night a group of ultra-liberal senators held an all-night gab fest about global warming. Meanwhile in the Upper Midwest, a Coast Guard official says ice-breaking efforts could last into late May.

Yep, late May.

Oh, over the weekend the Great Lakes reached a record 93 percent ice cover.

From WBAY-TV:

"This year, because we have so much ice and it's so much thicker, what we're finding is our single assets are really challenged to be able to work independently and so we're having to pool our resources for lack of a better term and we're taking our big breaker, Mackinaw, and joining it with our smaller breakers," says Mark Gill, U.S. Coast Guard Director of Vessel Traffic Services.

While ice breaking around Sturgeon Bay begins Monday, the vessels will then head north toward Escanaba and continue east to the Straits of Mackinac. Where the ice breakers travel is based on a priority list and the Port of Green Bay isn't near the top.

"This year with the expansive ice I would not be surprised to see us breaking ice toward the latter part of May," says Gill

Haen says by mid April, many terminal operators along the Fox River will be in dire need of raw materials. He's also worried about the ice breakers holding up.

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