{"id":2346,"date":"2015-12-07T10:59:01","date_gmt":"2015-12-07T16:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iisd.org\/ela\/?p=2346"},"modified":"2024-04-26T11:14:59","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T16:14:59","slug":"iisd-ela-climate-change-part-2-lakes-getting-less-icy","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/ela\/blog\/iisd-ela-climate-change-part-2-lakes-getting-less-icy\/","title":{"rendered":"IISD-ELA and Climate Change Part 2: Our Lakes Are Getting Less Icy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the last 47 years, researchers at IISD-Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA) have discovered a lot about the effects of climate change on lakes and freshwater. And one of the things they have discovered is that\u00a0<em>our lakes are getting less icy and are icing over for shorter periods of time.<\/em>\u00a0In the second part of our series looking at the work that is happening at IISD-ELA regarding climate change, we take a look at what we have learned in greater detail.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/sites\/default\/files\/uploads\/a3a4f169-8d9c-41a0-a6ad-27ab9891f25a.jpg\" alt=\"\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In many parts of the Northern Hemisphere,\u00a0<strong>researchers have documented shorter winters and a reduced duration of ice\u00a0cover<\/strong>. They have also discovered that the duration of the winter period where lakes are ice\u00a0covered is getting shorter and shorter over time.\n<ul>\n<li>Such patterns are also evident throughout the boreal zone of Canada. Since 1969, we have measured the duration of ice\u00a0cover, including the day the lake surface is &gt;90 per cent\u00a0frozen (ice-on date) and the day &gt;90 per cent\u00a0of lake ice has melted (ice-off date), on one of our main study lakes.<\/li>\n<li>The data show that the period of ice cover has declined by 18 days over the study period at a rate of 4.24 days per decade. While additional factors such as lake size and wind speed are important, there are very strong relationships between air temperature and ice\u00a0formation and melting on lakes. Using these relationships, it is possible to estimate how the duration of ice\u00a0cover will change based on changes in air temperature predicted by global climate models. For example, based on regional climate projections for Northwestern Ontario, the duration of ice\u00a0cover is projected to decline by an additional 20\u201330 days by 2070.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/sites\/default\/files\/uploads\/ICY.jpg\" alt=\"\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Figure 1.\u00a0Long-term changes in ice\u00a0cover on Lake 239 of the Experimental Lakes Area. The lower panel shows the deviation in each year from the long-term average duration of ice\u00a0cover.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why does this matter?<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u200b<\/strong>The duration of ice\u00a0cover on lakes is important for winter roads into remote northern communities, and recreational activities such as snowmobiling and ice\u00a0fishing. These activities are of large economic importance to communities, bringing in supplies and significant tourism during the winter period. The duration of ice cover is also very important to a large number of physical, chemical\u00a0and biological processes in lakes.<\/li>\n<li>As the snow and ice melt, sunlight that heats the water and is required for photosynthesis increases dramatically. Increases in plant growth supply the food and energy requirements for all resident species from small bugs to fish such as lake trout. Longer summers are good for some fish species, allowing them more time to grow and achieve sufficient energy stores before the next winter sets in. However, some fish species, such as lake trout, require cold temperatures and highly oxygenated water to survive, and their most intensive feeding periods are in the early spring and late autumn. For these fish, longer summers can mean a longer period between spring and fall peak feeding times and increased potential for oxygen levels to fall below their requirements (loss of habitat). For this reason, lake scientists (also called <em>limnologists<\/em>) and fisheries scientists are very interested in how climate change will influence the duration of ice cover.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>IISD-ELA, Climate Change and the Boreal Forest<\/strong><br \/>\nIISD-ELA\u00a0is located in the boreal forest, which\u00a0represents the largest ecozone on the planet, covering 11 per cent\u00a0of the planet&#8217;s total surface. Within Canada, the boreal forest dominates the landscape, covering 53 per cent\u00a0of the total land surface.\u00a0The boreal forest and aquatic systems play a large role in the global carbon budget.<\/p>\n<p>However, the boreal ecozone is changing. A history of more intensive land use, industrial development, electricity generation\u00a0and resource extraction alter the natural balance in minor and major ways. Most importantly, a changing climate affects water, land and life. Responsible use of our natural resources requires a scientifically\u00a0rigorous understanding of these systems and how they are changing.\u00a0Fortunately Canada\u2019s premier\u00a0freshwater research station has a front row seat and a history of monitoring parameters that can tell us how the world\u2019s northern forests and freshwater lakes are affected by these changes. IISD-ELA brings a 47 year (1969\u2013present) history of monitoring climate, water quality\u00a0and fisheries in a unique whole-ecosystem laboratory setting. Now, as a part of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, we have the opportunity to use the long-term monitoring dataset of IISD-ELA to examine how climate change is affecting boreal forests, wetlands\u00a0and lakes from a consistent, long-term, whole-ecosystem dataset of significant scientific and societal value.<\/p>\n<p>As the world&#8217;s eyes are focused on the Paris Climate Change Conference, we wanted to take this opportunity to present some of our major climate change research findings\u00a0to you, so you can see the data for yourself and understand how climate change is affecting our lakes.<\/p>\n<p>You can stay up to date with all the latest news from IISD-ELA by\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.iisd.org\/ela\/subscribe-newsletter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">subscribing to our newsletter<\/a>, and you can\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/charities\/iisd-experimental-lakes-area-inc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">donate to the facility here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the second part of our series looking at climate change, we take a look at what we have learned in greater detail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2348,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false},"blog_types":[194],"environmental_issues_type":[201],"class_list":["post-2346","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","blog_types-our-research","environmental_issues_type-climate-change"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Effects of Climate Change Part 2: Our Lakes Are Getting Less Icy | IISD-ELA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the second 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