The world’s lakes are warming at a faster rate than oceans and atmosphere, a trend that may already have triggered major changes in aquatic ecosystems, according to a new report published in Geophysical Research Letters on Wednesday.
Globally, lakes have been heating up an average of 0.34°C (.61°F) per decade between 1985 and 2009, researchers found. In northern climates, the deepest ice-covered lakes are warming at twice the rate of the atmosphere.
“The widespread warming reported here suggests that large changes in Earth’s freshwater resources and their processes are not only imminent but already under way,” the study concludes.