Oxygen levels in the world’s temperate freshwater lakes are declining faster than in the oceans.
Credit: Gretchen Hansen, University of Minnesota
TROY, N.Y. — Oxygen levels in the world’s temperate freshwater lakes are declining rapidly — faster than in the oceans — a trend driven largely by climate change that threatens freshwater biodiversity and drinking water quality.
Research published today in Nature found that oxygen levels in surveyed lakes across the temperate zone have declined 5.5% at the surface and 18.6% in deep waters since 1980. Meanwhile, in a large subset of mostly nutrient-polluted lakes, surface oxygen levels increased as water temperatures crossed a threshold favoring cyanobacteria, which can create toxins when they flourish in the form of harmful algal blooms.
“All complex life depends on oxygen. It’s the support system for aquatic food webs. And when you start losing oxygen, you have the potential to lose species,” said Kevin Rose, author and professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. “Lakes are losing oxygen 2.75-9.3 times faster than the oceans, a decline that will have impacts throughout the ecosystem.”
Researchers analyzed a combined total of over […]
This is a disaster of epic proportions. It will haunt us for generations.
If there are future generations to be haunted as O2 levels drop below life supporting levels. Well perhaps in the domed cities where the elite will breathe artificially generated O2 while the rest….wasn’t there a movie?