University of Regina research is being published today [wed] in the magazine, “Nature.” It has found that oxygen levels in lakes across the northern hemisphere are declining 2.8 to 9.3 times faster than in the world’s oceans. It’s a trend, they say, which threatens freshwater fisheries, biodiversity, and drinking water quality.
A team of international researchers analyzed over 45,000 dissolved oxygen and temperature profiles collected since 1941 from nearly 400 lakes around the globe.
U of R research showed that rates of oxygen loss are particularly high in lakes in Saskatchewan where rapid warming, nutrient pollution, and blooms of toxic cyanobacteria combine to deplete oxygen from the bottom of lakes.
Lead author Stephen F. Jane says, “Lakes are indicators or ‘sentinels’ of threats to the environment because they respond to signals from the surrounding landscape and atmosphere. We found that these biodiverse lakes are changing rapidly, showing that atmospheric warming has already impacted freshwater ecosystems.”