Climate change is making Lake Tahoe warmer, adding stress to the ecosystem

[TexasTowelie]

In an annual report released this week, U.C. Davis researchers found that climate change is adding new pressure to the Lake Tahoe ecosystem. The “State of the Lake Report” found that surface temperatures in July 2017 were the warmest on record, more than 6 degrees hotter than recordings from 2016, a trend likely to continue as air temperatures are predicted to rise.

“It’s changing the way things happen at Tahoe,” said Geoffrey Schladow, director of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, which published the report on Thursday.

He said that in the decades to come, Tahoe can expect to see more extreme years that reflect more volatile weather, disrupting the way the lake has self-regulated its ecosystem in the past.

The report noted that researchers are still studying “the impact of these changes on the lake and the other aquatic resources,” but Schladow noted that warming water could create a hole for more invasive species, reduce oxygen levels and release nutrients that fuel algae growth.

Read more: https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/report-climate-change-is-making-lake-tahoe-warmer-adding-stress-to-the-ecosystem

[FirstLight]

1. Don't need a study myself, lived here for 25 years...

It's NOT the same. Used to be it was a very rare thing to see a 90-degree day in summer, much less many of them...now it's happening more regularly. (Same for below 0 in winter, then we get a week of 'em)

Also more algae at beaches that used to be clear, more trees dying rapidly and randomly...we have a few in our neighborhood that just croaked this year seemingly overnight.

Wildlife seems to ebb & flow in annual waves...some years more bunnies etc, some years more coyotes. But this year even the Mountain Lions have come down to look for water and possibly food.

Yeah, it's hard when you see the shift in the ecosystem around you...

I wish these "studies" would lead to actual legislation and efforts to cut the carbon. But we all know that's a long shot.