Rapid and highly variable warming of lake surface waters around the globe

Authors:

Catherine O'Reilly

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Sapna Sharma

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Derek Gray

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Stephanie Hampton

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Jordan Read

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Rex Rowley

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Philipp Schneider

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John Lenters

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Peter McIntyre

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Benjamin Kraemer

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Gesa Weyhenmeyer

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Dietmar Straile

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Bo Dong

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Rita Adrian

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Mathew Allan

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Orlane Anneville

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Lauri Arvola

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Jay Austin

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John Bailey

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Jill Baron

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Justin Brookes

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Elvira de Eyto

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Martin Dokulil

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David Hamilton

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Karl Havens

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Amy Hetherington

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Scott Higgins

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Simon Hook

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Lyubov Izmest'eva

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Klaus Joehnk

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Kulli Kangur

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Peter Kasprzak

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Michio Kumagai

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Esko Kuusisto

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George Leshkevich

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David Livingstone

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Sally MacIntyre

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Linda May

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John Melack

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Doerthe Mueller-Navarra

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Mikhail Naumenko

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Peeter Noges

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Tiina Noges

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Ryan North

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Pierre-Denis Plisnier

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Anna Rigosi

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Alon Rimmer

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Michela Rogora

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Lars Rudstam

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James Rusak

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Nico Salmaso

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Nihar Samal

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Daniel Schindler

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Geoffrey Schladow

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Martin Schmid

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Silke Schmidt

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Eugene Silow

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Evren Soylu

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Katrin Teubner

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Piet Verburg

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Ari Voutilainen

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Andrew Watkinson

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Craig Williamson

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Guoqing Zhang

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+59 more

Publication Type:

Journal Article

Year of Publication:

2015

Secondary Title:

Geophysical Research Letters

DOI:

10.1002/2015GL066235

Pages:

773-10

Volume:

Year:

2015

Date:

12/2015

Abstract

In this first worldwide synthesis of in situ and satellite-derived lake data, we find that lake summer surface water temperatures rose rapidly (global mean = 0.34\textdegreeC decade-1) between 1985 and 2009. Our analyses show that surface water warming rates are dependent on combinations of climate and local characteristics, rather than just lake location, leading to the counterintuitive result that regional consistency in lake warming is the exception, rather than the rule. The most rapidly warming lakes are widely geographically distributed, and their warming is associated with interactions among different climatic factors—from seasonally ice-covered lakes in areas where temperature and solar radiation are increasing while cloud cover is diminishing (0.72\textdegreeC decade-1) to ice-free lakes experiencing increases in air temperature and solar radiation (0.53\textdegreeC decade-1). The pervasive and rapid warming observed here signals the urgent need to incorporate climate impacts into vulnerability assessments and adaptation efforts for lakes.