You know why longer growing seasons are bad? Because sea lampreys may become bigger

Climate change may supersize lamprey | Superior, Wisconsin

UW Sea Grant has a project to help figure out what effects these changes could have on Lake Superior and its fish population. Kitchell says they will try to model what the lake’s rising temperature and its effects on the sea lamprey population could have. “The result of the warming is that ice off goes earlier in the spring and ice on happens later in the fall and into the winter. And that’s a longer growing period with higher temperature for lampreys, and they become bigger.”

Kitchell says he is worried that the growing lampreys could make controlling the eel-like fish predator more difficult. “Bigger lampreys are going to kill more fish and lay more eggs. And the result is going to be an effective increase in lamprey population that is caused by climate warming effects.”

Kitchell says lampreys currently are only at 10 percent of what they were at their peak population 60 years ago.