Millions of Dead Fish in Midwest Rivers
Throughout Midwest America this summer has been sizzling hot. So many century old temperature records have been shattered by the extreme heat. Hot weather means warmer river water and less of it. Even the mighty Mississippi River is at record lows. Ships now need to navigate carefully in parts to avoid hitting bottom.
The heat has been severe in Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois. Because the river and streams are more shallow, their water temperatures have risen and this is killing millions of fish in both states. Some river water has hit 97F! That is like a hot tub. Others, are even at 100F! Just last week in Iowa, 40,000 shovelnose sturgeons were found worth $10 million@ $110 a pound. In Nebraska, the Lower Platte River is running hot and thousands of fish of all types are dead in the water. The same story is in Illinois where tens of thousands of bass, carp and others are laying along river banks. Because of the massive amounts, many local power stations which already face low water levels have clogged intakes from the dead fish forcing a shutdown.
A total of 1600 counties in 32 states have now declared the drought an emergency disaster because more than 3000 heat records have been shattered in the past month. For anyone who thinks that the world's climate is NOT changing to more extreme conditions, consider what is happening in the Midwest.