World’s lakes ‘losing oxygen rapidly due to global warming’
Climate change is driving down oxygen levels in lakes around the world (Anna Gowthorpe/PA)
Freshwater lakes around the world are losing oxygen rapidly as a result of global warming, with potentially disastrous consequences for wildlife, researchers have warned.
A study, published in the journal Nature, suggests oxygen levels in lakes have declined 5.5% at the surface and 18.6% in deep waters over the last four decades – up to nine times faster than in oceans.
The scientists said that while lakes make up only a fraction (around 3%) of Earth’s land surface, they house “a disproportionate concentration of the planet’s biodiversity”.