- The world's lakes are heating up at an average rate of 0.61 degrees Fahrenheit per decade, outpacing the rise in ocean and atmosphere temperatures.
The new findings are the result of a first-of-its-kind international survey, combining satellite and ground-based temperature data on 235 lakes, comprising more than half the planet's freshwater supply.
The results were published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, and presented on Wednesday to attendees of the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.
At risk are lake-based ecosystems and freshwater drinking supplies. If warming trends continue at the current rate, researchers expect oxygen-sucking algae blooms to increase by 20 percent over the next century. Blooms that give off fish-killing toxins will grow by 5 percent.