The Stream, December 18: Lakes Warming Around the World

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The Global Rundown

Water temperatures are warming faster than air temperatures in lakes around the world, according to new research. Climate change is likely to double the number of severe algae blooms in Lake Erie over the next 100 years, while changing conditions are leading to less ice and smaller fish in Canada’s Experimental Lakes Area. A cholera outbreak in Kenya has sickened more than 500 people. The Netherlands is experimenting with floating neighborhoods, and the capital city of Mississippi needs a huge investment to improve aging water infrastructure.

“We think that sustainability on the water can work even better than sustainability on land.”–Koen Olthuis, a Dutch architect who specializes in floating buildings, on efforts in the Netherlands to build entire floating neighborhoods. One floating neighborhood in Amsterdam has 97 homes. (Associated Press; Business Insider)

By The Numbers

540 people Number who have fallen ill in a refugee camp in Kenya during an outbreak of cholera sparked by heavy rains. Reuters

$1 billion Amount needed to repair aging infrastructure, including water and sewer pipes, in Mississippi’s capital city. Bloomberg

Science, Studies, And Reports

Water temperatures in lakes around the world are increasing at an average rate of 0.3 degrees Celsius each decade, according to study that will be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The study of 235 lakes found that water temperatures increased faster than air temperatures. Nature

Declining ice cover, darker water, and smaller fish are some of the effects of climate change being observed by researchers at the Experimental Lakes Area in western Ontario. The lakes have been used for whole-ecosystem experiments for decades. International Institute for Sustainable Development

On The Radar

The number of severe toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie is set to double over the next century, according to researchers at Ohio State University. Climate change is likely to drive increasingly intense and frequent blooms in the lake, a finding that could be critical for determining nutrient pollution reductions in the lake’s watershed. Ohio State University

Codi Kozacek

A news correspondent for Circle of Blue based out of Hawaii. She writes The Stream, Circle of Blue’s daily digest of international water news trends. Her interests include food security, ecology and the Great Lakes.
Contact Codi Kozacek