People living in the Great Lakes region are already feeling the effects of a changing climate. Shifts in seasonal temperatures and precipitation patterns could have dramatic impacts on the economy, ecology, and quality of life. In this illuminating and thorough volume, leading scholars address the challenge of preparing for climate change in the region, where decision makers from various sectors — government, agriculture, recreation, and tourism — must increasingly be aware of the need to incorporate climate change into their short- and long-term planning. The chapters in this revealing book, written by some of the foremost climate change scholars in North America, outline the major trends in the climate of the Great Lakes region, how humans might cope with the uncertainty of climate change impacts, and examples of on-the-ground projects that have addressed these issues.--Publisher description.

Thinking about climate change in the Great Lakes region -- Pt. 1. Effects of climate change in the Great Lakes region -- Historical climate trends in Michigan and the Great Lakes region / Jeffrey Andresen -- Climate change impacts and adaptation strategies for Great Lakes nearshore and coastal systems / Scudder Mackey -- Climate change and biodiversity in the Great Lakes region: From "Fingerprints" of change to helping safeguard species / Kimberly Hall / Terry Root -- Pt. 2. Decision making and climate change -- Decision making under climate uncertainty: The power of understanding judgement and decision processes / Sabine Marx / Elke Weber -- Agricultural adaptation to climate change: Is uncertain information usable knowledge? / William Easterling / Clark Seipt / Adam Terando / Xianzeng Niu -- Adapting to climate change in the context of multiple risks: A case study of cash crop farming in Ontario / Ben Bradshaw / Suzanne Belliveau / Barry Smit -- Pt. 3. Adaptation tools and case studies -- The contextual importance of uncertainty in climate-sensitive decision-making: Toward an integrative decision-centered screening tool / Susanne Moser -- Linking science to decision making in the Great Lakes region / Joel Scheraga -- The development and communication of an ensemble of local-scale climate scenarios: An example from the Pileus project / Julie Winkler / Jeanne Bisanz / Galina Guentchev / Krerk Piromsopa / Jenni van Ravensway / Haryono Prawiranata / Ryan Torre / Hai Kyung Min / Johnathan Clark -- Preparing for climate change in the Great Lakes region.