According to aquatic biologist from Washington State University Stephanie Hampton, the variations in the temperature changes across lakes suggests that individual lakes may respond differently to changing air temperatures.
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The researchers presented their findings at a American Geophysical Union meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 16. A two-degree temperature shift can mean the difference between an iced-over Superior or an ice-free lake, he said. And while this trend might make for more-comfortable swimming holes, it’s likely to have drastic effects on the environment.
Researchers were funded and aided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA for the goal of measuring the rising temperature over the last three decades.
Professor Hamilton and Dr Mat Allan from the University of Waikato, along with Piet Verburg from NIWA, contributed data from New Zealand’s lakes to the database, which included information on individual lakes’ climate and geographical features – factors which can influence the temperature of a lake over time. The study is touted as the largest and most standard of its kind.
The study involved monitoring 235 lakes (over half of the world’s freshwater supply) on six different continents for 25 years. All of the research has been published in Geophysical Research Letters.
That may seem small, but scientists say it’s significant for aquatic ecosystems.
Until recently scientists had little knowledge of how atmospheric heating and increasing weather extremes were affecting lakes throughout the world – until they began sharing their data with each other.
Researchers say that this study is highly critical for surrounding lake communities as human societies greatly depend on surface water not only for drinking but lake waters are also necessary for energy generation and crop irrigation and also manufacturing operations. What’s more freshwater fish is an extremely important part of the diet for people in the developing world due to their high protein content.
The researchers point out that the temperature of lake water has a major impact on the health and viability of ecosystems.
When temperatures swing quickly and widely from the norm, life forms in a lake can change dramatically and even disappear.
“The message we’re getting from our lakes is that they’re getting more and more stressed”, Catherine O’Reilly, an Illinois State University geologist who led the study, said Thursday. Moreover, Lake Superior’s rapid temperature rise was among the largest recorded anywhere on Earth.
Temperatures in both regions are rising faster than the average.
Nasa’s satellite measurements provide a broad view of lake temperatures over the entire globe.
Surface temperature Significantly, satellite data dating back 30 years measures only surface temperature, while hand measurements dating back over a century can detect changes in temperature throughout a lake. It has been possible through combining the ground and satellite measurements that have provided how lake temperatures are changing across the world. Lakes in warmer climates because less cloud cover is exposing them to the sun’s rays, while lakes in colder climates are warming faster because ice loss is occurring earlier in the year.
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New research offers further proof of the consequences of global warming.
