Query: Temperature errors in the Great Lakes region are not used in any global temperature records.

Relevant passages:
Lake Superior <=SEP=> Lake Superior ( Lac Supérieur ) is the largest of the Great Lakes of North America . The lake is shared by the Canadian province of Ontario to the north , the US state of Minnesota to the west , and Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the south . It is generally considered the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area . It is the world 's third-largest freshwater lake by volume and the largest by volume in North America .

Permafrost <=SEP=> In geology , permafrost is ground , including rock or ( cryotic ) soil , at or below the freezing point of water 0 C for two or more years . Most permafrost is located in high latitudes ( in and around the Arctic and Antarctic regions ) , but alpine permafrost may exist at high altitudes in much lower latitudes . Ground ice is not always present , as may be in the case of nonporous bedrock , but it frequently occurs and it may be in amounts exceeding the potential hydraulic saturation of the ground material . Permafrost accounts for 0.022 % of total water on earth and exists in 24 % of exposed land in the Northern Hemisphere . It also occurs subsea on the continental shelves of the continents surrounding the Arctic Ocean , portions of which were exposed during the last glacial period , with global weather implications .   A global temperature rise of 1.5 C-change above current levels would be enough to start the thawing of permafrost in Siberia , according to one group of scientists .

Little Ice Age <=SEP=> The Little Ice Age ( LIA ) was a period of cooling that occurred after the Medieval Warm Period . Although it was not a true ice age , the term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939 . It has been conventionally defined as a period extending from the 16th to the 19th centuries , but some experts prefer an alternative timespan from about 1300 to about 1850 . Climatologists and historians working with local records no longer expect to agree on either the start or end dates of the period , which varied according to local conditions .   The NASA Earth Observatory notes three particularly cold intervals : one beginning about 1650 , another about 1770 , and the last in 1850 , all separated by intervals of slight warming . The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Third Assessment Report considered the timing and areas affected by the Little Ice Age suggested largely-independent regional climate changes rather than a globally-synchronous increased glaciation . At most , there was modest cooling of the Northern Hemisphere during the period .   Several causes have been proposed : cyclical lows in solar radiation , heightened volcanic activity , changes in the ocean circulation , variations in Earth 's orbit and axial tilt ( orbital forcing ) , inherent variability in global climate , and decreases in the human population .

Precipitation <=SEP=> In meteorology , precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity . The main forms of precipitation include drizzle , rain , sleet , snow , graupel and hail . Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor , so that the water condenses and `` precipitates '' . Thus , fog and mist are not precipitation but suspensions , because the water vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate . Two processes , possibly acting together , can lead to air becoming saturated : cooling the air or adding water vapor to the air . Precipitation forms as smaller droplets coalesce via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud . Short , intense periods of rain in scattered locations are called `` showers . ''   Moisture that is lifted or otherwise forced to rise over a layer of sub-freezing air at the surface may be condensed into clouds and rain . This process is typically active when freezing rain is occurring . A stationary front is often present near the area of freezing rain and serves as the foci for forcing and rising air . Provided necessary and sufficient atmospheric moisture content , the moisture within the rising air will condense into clouds , namely stratus and cumulonimbus . Eventually , the cloud droplets will grow large enough to form raindrops and descend toward the Earth where they will freeze on contact with exposed objects . Where relatively warm water bodies are present , for example due to water evaporation from lakes , lake-effect snowfall becomes a concern downwind of the warm lakes within the cold cyclonic flow around the backside of extratropical cyclones . Lake-effect snowfall can be locally heavy . Thundersnow is possible within a cyclone 's comma head and within lake effect precipitation bands . In mountainous areas , heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation . On the leeward side of mountains , desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating . The movement of the monsoon trough , or intertropical convergence zone , brings rainy seasons to savannah climes .   Precipitation is a major component of the water cycle , and is responsible for depositing the fresh water on the planet . Approximately 505000 km3 of water falls as precipitation each year ; 398000 km3 of it over the oceans and 107000 km3 over land . Given the Earth 's surface area , that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 mm , but over land it is only 715 mm . Climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes .   Precipitation may occur on other celestial bodies , e.g. when it gets cold , Mars has precipitation which most likely takes the form of frost , rather than rain or snow .