H11E-0910:
Rapid warming of the world’s lakes: Interdecadal variability and long-term trends from 1910-2009 using in situ and remotely sensed data
Monday, 15 December 2014
John D Lenters1, Jordan Stuart Read2, Sapna Sharma3, Catherine O'Reilly4, Stephanie E Hampton5, Derek Gray6, Peter McIntyre7, Simon J Hook8, Philipp Schneider9, Mehmet E Soylu7, Noémi Barabás1 and Dendy Diane Lofton1, (1)LimnoTech, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, (2)USGS Center for Integrated Data Analytics, Middleton, WI, United States, (3)York University, Toronto, ON, Canada, (4)Illinois State University, Department of Geography-Geology, Normal, IL, United States, (5)Washington State University, Pullman, WA, United States, (6)California University of Pennsylvania, California, PA, United States, (7)University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, United States, (8)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (9)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States
Abstract:
Global and regional changes in climate have important implications for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Recent studies, for example, have revealed significant warming of inland water bodies throughout the world. To better understand the global patterns, physical mechanisms, and ecological implications of lake warming, an initiative known as the "Global Lake Temperature Collaboration" (GLTC) was started in 2010, with the objective of compiling and analyzing lake temperature data from numerous satellite and in situ records dating back at least 20-30 years. The GLTC project has now assembled data from over 300 lakes, with some in situ records extending back more than 100 years. Here, we present an analysis of the long-term warming trends, interdecadal variability, and a direct comparison between in situ and remotely sensed lake surface temperature for the 3-month summer period July-September (January-March for some lakes). The overall results show consistent, long-term trends of increasing summer-mean lake surface temperature across most but not all sites. Lakes with especially long records show accelerated warming in the most recent two to three decades, with almost half of the lakes warming at rates in excess of 0.5 °C per decade during the period 1985-2009, and a few even exceeding 1.0 °C per decade. Both satellite and in situ data show a similar distribution of warming trends, and a direct comparison at lake sites that have both types of data reveals a close correspondence in mean summer water temperature, interannual variability, and long-term trends. Finally, we examine standardized lake surface temperature anomalies across the full 100-year period (1910-2009), and in conjunction with similar timeseries of air temperature. The results reveal a close correspondence between summer air temperature and lake surface temperature on interannual and interdecadal timescales, but with many lakes warming more rapidly than the ambient air temperature over 25- to 100-year periods.
