Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumEarth's lakes are heating up. Fast. Here's why that matters
The worlds lakes are warming faster than the atmosphere or the ocean, and this is a problem, say scientists.
In the first study of its kind, funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation and published Wednesday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, dozens of researchers from around the world studied 235 lakes spanning six continents, more than half of the worlds freshwater supply. Using 25 years worth of satellite and ground temperature data, the scientists concluded that the Earths lakes are warming an average of 0.61 degrees Fahrenheit each decade.
These results suggest that large changes in our lakes are not only unavoidable, but are probably already happening, lead author Catherine OReilly, associate professor of geology at Illinois State University, explained in a press release.
And while 0.61 degrees Fahrenheit per decade might not sound like much, its a higher rate of warming than either the atmosphere or ocean are experiencing. And its enough to do some serious damage, the researchers say.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2015/1217/Earth-s-lakes-are-heating-up.-Fast.-Here-s-why-that-matters
daleanime
(17,796 posts)Politicsandhiphop
(28 posts)CrispyQ
(36,464 posts)corkhead
(6,119 posts)TIME TO PANIC
(1,894 posts)jwirr
(39,215 posts)in many lakes and ponds. So when they say we may already be experiencing the effect they are right.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)Climate science continues to depress and fascinate in equal measure....
NickB79
(19,243 posts)By the end of this century, tullibee will be gone or drastically reduced in two-thirds of the lakes where it lives now, according to a sophisticated climate prediction model by state and University of Minnesota scientists. Other coldwater fish like yellow perch, burbot and lake trout are also declining, while warmwater fish like bluegill and crappies are on the rise.
Its a pretty striking story, said Peter Jacobson, a fish biologist with the state Department of Natural Resources. Hes been studying tullibee since heat-related fish kills first got his attention in the hot summer of 2006. The recent declines have been mostly from climate.
Lake Mille Lacs supports a massive tourism industry centered around year-long walleye fishing (it's kind of a cult up here). The collapse of the walleye population has cost the state many, many millions just this year alone. And it's not predicted to get better.
With the loss of coldwater prey fish, the walleyes have resorted to eating their young. Fish surveys have been unable to find ANY walleyes younger than 4-5 years, even though they spawn hundreds of millions of young each spring. And as the old fish are either caught by fisherman, eagles, or just die of age, the numbers rapidly fall towards zero.
Huh, forced to eat your own young just to survive another day. Somehow, that sounds like the perfect way to describe the situation we humans find ourselves in.
Flying Squirrel
(3,041 posts)Just set up solar panels next to them all to soak up the sun's rays... Problem solved!