New study reveals remote lakes in Ecuador are not immune to climate change
From Queen’s University
A study of three remote lakes in Ecuador led by Queen’s University researchers has revealed the vulnerability of tropical high mountain lakes to global climate change – the first study of its kind to show this. The data explains how the lakes are changing due to the water warming as the result of climate change.
The results could have far-reaching consequences for Andean water resources as the lakes provide 60 per cent of the drinking water for Cuenca, the third largest city in Ecuador.
“Until recently we knew little about the effects of recent climate changes on tropical high-mountain lakes,” says Neal Michelutti (Biology), lead author and a senior research scientist at Queen’s University’s Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Lab (PEARL). “We saw major changes in the algae consistent with the water warming that indicates changes in the physical structure of the water column.”
Dr. Michelutti and his research team visited three lakes in Cajas National Park. They retrieved water and core samples from the centre of each of the lakes for analysis. The lakes are accessible only by hiking trails and boats are prohibited. There is also no development within the park meaning the lakes are still in pristine condition.
“Andean societies are amongst the most vulnerable when it comes to the impact of climate change,” says Dr. Michelutti. “Warming in the Andes is occurring at a rate nearly twice the global average and it’s already impacting water resources as shown in this research. These changes are also a sign of bigger changes that are coming.”
Dr. Michelutti and his team are planning to return to the region for further research this summer and will be working with lake managers in the area to try to preserve the water.
“We have previously recorded similar types of threshold shifts in polar and temperate regions,” says research team member John Smol (Biology). “These changes are harbingers of processes that will likely affect the food chain and reverberate throughout the ecosystem. We now have data showing that lakes from the Arctic to the Andes, and everywhere in between, are rapidly changing due to our impacts on climate.”
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Also working on the research team are Alexander Wolfe (University of Alberta), Colin Cooke (Government of Alberta), William Hobbs (Washington State Department of Ecology) and Mathias Vuille (University at Albany, SUNY).
To read the study, visit the PEARL website.
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What a great junket and they are going back this year……..in summer….quelle surprise. How awful for them. I assume they picked lakes that have no geothermal connection and that their conclusions are founded from long time data streams not just the sampling from one visit. Wouldnt want to be too hasty getting on the catastrophy band wagon would we
MOD BTW – who picked the title picture – even the Pearl website doesnt claim that lake to be in ecuador
“These changes are also a sign of bigger changes that are coming.”
I’ve been hearing this for 30 years. Still waiting.
Final comment on the “possibility” that something other than climate change impacted the plankton populations in Cajas National Park. Fish hatcheries:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/what-makes-the-trout-in-ecuador-look-like-salmon-16170214/#B3qXiFsl6l0drzJJ.99
BUT THE WARMING IS NOT CAUSED BY CO2. Physics can be used to prove both carbon dioxide and methane reduce the temperature gradient by inter-molecular radiation, just as does water vapor. Thus the thermal profile rotates downwards at the surface end and all these IR-active gases lead to lower surface temperatures, not higher ones. There is overwhelming empirical support for what is in our group’s website now visited by nearly 5000 in its first six weeks.