WABI interviews Jain about ice-out research
WABI (Channel 5) spoke with Shaleen Jain, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Maine, about his latest research on predicting spring ice-out dates for Maine lakes. Jain is studying how the warming and cooling of tropical Pacific sea surface waters in the fall and winter can help predict the timing of spring ice-out dates in lakes across Maine and North America. He told WABI the effects from El Nino on the Pacific could move up Maine ice-out dates to around late March or early April as compared to the mid-April average. “So that kind of a two- to three-week earlier ice out has a substantial impact on recreational activity and also the ecosystems,” Jain said.