Climate change is having a widespread effect on lakes across the Northern Hemisphere, a new study has found.
The study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, examined 122 lakes from 1939 to 2016 in North America, Europe and Asia, and found that ice-free years have become more than three times more frequent since 1978.
These ice-free years not only threaten the livelihoods of people who depend on them, but they also have the potential to cause deep ecological impacts.
“Ecologically, ice acts as a reset button,” said Sapna Sharma, co-author of the study and an associate professor in the biology department at York University in Toronto.
“In years you don’t have ice cover, the water temperatures are warmer in the summer. There’s a higher likelihood of algal blooms, some of which may be toxic. And it can really affect spawning times and can affect fish populations under the ice.”
Aerial view of melting permafrost tundra and lakes near the Yupik village of Quinhagak, on the Yukon Delta in Alaska on April 12, 2019. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)
There’s also concern in the Arctic, where the warming is happening three times faster than anywhere else in the world. And with more warming, there’s more permafrost thawing, which can affect water quality in northern communities.
“One impact is on the hydrology of the region,” said Claude Duguay, a professor at the University of Waterloo and a university Research Chair in Cryosphere and Hydrosphere from Space who was not involved in the study.
“When you have catastrophic drainage of these lakes, of course, they disappear. And they will not necessarily reform as we get to higher temperature conditions. The impact for communities can be on food security. So you think about trapping, hunting, fishing, as well as water availability for the communities.”
Of the millions of lakes in the world, the study suggests that more then 5,000 of them could be ice-free by the end of the century.
Dramatic changes
The authors found that ice-free years were more common in the second half of their study period. While there were only 31 ice-free events before 1978, there were 108 after that year.
One of the oldest records kept of lake ice is that of Lake Suwa near Nagano, Japan, which dates back to 1443, kept by Shinto priests. The study found that rather than freezing annually, it now freezes on average twice every decade.
“Within the next 10 years, it may be the last time that the lake ever freezes again,” Sharma said.
These changes to the lakes, the authors say, are likely to continue for decades as the planet warms due to the ongoing release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Sapna Sharma, co-author of the study and an associate professor in the biology department at York University in Toronto, says lakes that don’t freeze in the winter lead to repercussions in the summer, such as more algal blooms that threaten fish and other wildlife. (Craig Chivers/CBC)
The lakes most at risk are those that are deep, as it’s more difficult for them to form ice, particularly the Great Lakes, Sharma said.
And it’s not just about the quality of the water; it’s also about the quantity, she noted. Ice helps reduce the rate of evaporation, so without that essential ice cover, evaporation rates may increase and reduce the amount of available freshwater.
Alex Mills, a professor at York University who studies ice phenology and was not involved in the research, has seen the change himself, particularly on Lake Simcoe in Ontario.
“The overall trend is pretty clear and that is since about 1850, the lake now freezes up about two weeks later than it used to, and it thaws about one week earlier than it used to,” he said. “And so if you add those up, there’s ice on the lake here about three weeks less per year than there used to be. So that’s quite a dramatic change.”
Mills said that Barrie, a city that lies on the shores of Lake Simcoe, used to have an annual carnival on Kempenfelt Bay every winter until the 1970s. Then someone fell through “and that was it,” he said. “We never have had a carnival on the lake since then.”
Though it’s likely that more lakes may see more ice-free winters, Sharma said she believes that with more research and solutions, there is still hope.
“I’ve been to the the [United Nations climate change conference] meetings, and there’s just so many young people who care about climate change who are dedicating their work lives to doing something about it. And people have very creative solutions,” she said.
“I think in the next 20 or 30 years, if we can get that support to know [the] climate is changing and it’s affecting us now and we need to do something about it now — if we get people on board for that, I think we can change things.”
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
