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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2019 VOL. 124 NO. 8 www.whitebearpress.com $1.00
WATER GREMLIN: Public update planned PAGE 5A
Polar explorer witness to melting ice BY SARA MARIE MOORE VADNAIS HEIGHTS EDITOR
SUBMITTED
Aquatic plants sampled Aug. 7 in the assessment survey.
Less nuisance milfoil lurking below surface BY DEBRA NEUTKENS EDITOR
WHITE BEAR LAKE — As he's done every year for the last 20, aquatics expert Steve McComas assessed the success of an invasive species treatment. This year, the results are good. Hot spots for Eurasian watermilfoil (EWM) were pinpointed and treated June 13 around the lake. The non-native weed is zapped with herbicides annually to curb problems with recreation and navigation. McComas, owner of Blue Water Science, said 15 areas had “high enough growth” to treat, amounting to 56 acres. On Aug. 7, McComas evaluated the treatment areas and observed that “for the most part, control was very good. There's hardly any EWM within 3 feet of the surface. That was the goal for both sailing and boating.” Treatment is a perennial undertaking on White Bear Lake. Some years EWM is worse than others. In 2012 and 2013 when the lake was low, more than 100 acres were treated. Last year, 70 acres required attention. McComas compared treatment over the last decade to see if there was a pattern. “There seem to be certain areas that produce heavy milfoil growth,” he said. “Areas of persistent growth have been treated at least four out of the last seven years.” McComas wants to treat those areas earlier in 2020. When the lake is lower, plant growth is more abundant and the water is more clear, the aquatics scientist noted. Not
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Polar Explorer Will Steger speaks at an environmental awareness event held at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi last month.
SEE EXPLORER, PAGE 8A
COURTESY CLIMATEGEN.ORG | SUBMITTED
The monthly average carbon dioxide concentration has risen from about 310 parts per million (ppm) in 1960 to almost 400 ppm in 2015, according to Mauna Loa Observatory data from Hawaii. At right, Polar expedition members use kayaks to cross open water.
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SEE MILFOIL, PAGE 9A
When polar explorer Will Steger heard the news, he couldn’t believe it, but knew it was real: The 1,250-square-mile ice shelf he had crossed in Antarctica by dog sled had collapsed into the sea. “It caught me by surprise,” Steger told an audience gathered at the Shoreview Community Foundation’s annual dinner last month. Steger also spoke at an environmental awareness event Nov. 21 at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi. Steger had been standing on the ice shelf a decade before. It was the moment when Steger knew it was time to focus his energies on education, not just exploration. “That was my wakeup call,” he said. A portion of the Larsen B Ice Shelf — about the size of Rhode Island — broke up over a month’s time in 2002, during Antarctica’s summer. The ice shelf had been stable for an estimated 10,000 years. Steger believes the collapse is due to climate change caused by increased carbon dioxide levels. The monthly average carbon dioxide concentration has risen from about 310 parts per million (ppm) in 1960 to almost 400 ppm in 2015, according to Mauna Loa Observatory data from Hawaii. Steger has explored polar