R. Iestyn Woolway

1 month ago | agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Chang Lu |Qiang Zhang |R. Iestyn Woolway |Long Ma |Xing Huang

1 Introduction Drylands account for approximately 41% of the global land area, with 90% of these regions located in developing countries (Li et al., 2021). Notably, more than 38% of the global population is increasingly affected by intensifying droughts (Naumann et al., 2021). Drylands are particularly vulnerable to climate change (Stringer et al., 2021).

Sep 18, 2024 | nature.com | Joshua Culpepper |Ellinor Jakobsson |Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer |Stephanie E. Hampton |Ulrike Obertegger |Kirill Shchapov | +1 more

AbstractIce phenology has shifted with anthropogenic warming such that many lakes are experiencing a shorter ice season. However, changes to ice quality — the ratio of black and white ice layers — remain little explored, despite relevance to lake physics, ecological function, human recreation and transportation. In this Review, we outline how ice quality is changing and discuss knock-on ecosystem service impacts.

Jul 12, 2024 | nature.com | Lei Huang |R. Iestyn Woolway |Axel Timmermann |Sun-Seon Lee |Keith B. Rodgers

AbstractLake surface temperatures are projected to increase under climate change, which could trigger shifts in the future distribution of thermally sensitive aquatic species. Of particular concern for lake ecosystems are when temperatures increase outside the range of natural variability, without analogue either today or in the past. However, our knowledge of when such no-analogue conditions will appear remains uncertain.

May 27, 2024 | nature.com | Fenglin Xu |Guoqing Zhang |R. Iestyn Woolway |Kun Yang |Yoshihide Wada |Jida Wang | +1 more

Lakes on the Tibetan Plateau are expanding rapidly in response to climate change. The potential impact on the local environment if lake expansion continues remains uncertain. Here we integrate field surveys, remote sensing observations and numerical modelling to assess future changes in lake surface area, water level and water volume. We also assess the ensuing risks to critical infrastructure, human settlements and key ecosystem components. Our results suggest that by 2100, even under a low-emissions scenario, the surface area of endorheic lakes on the Tibetan Plateau will increase by over 50% (~20,000 km2) and water levels will rise by around 10 m relative to 2020. This expansion represents approximately a fourfold increase in water storage compared with the period from the 1970s to 2020. A shift from lake shrinkage to expansion was projected in the southern plateau around 2021. The expansion is primarily fuelled by amplified lake water inputs from increased precipitation and glacier meltwater, profoundly reshaping the hydrological connectivity of the lake basins. In the absence of hazard mitigation measures, lake expansion is projected to submerge critical human infrastructure, including more than 1,000 km of roads, approximately 500 settlements and around 10,000 km2 of ecological components such as grasslands, wetlands and croplands. Our study highlights the urgent need for water hazard mitigation and management across the Tibetan Plateau. Model projections suggest that, even under a low-emissions scenario, lakes on the Tibetan Plateau will increase in area by about 50% by 2100, with widespread impacts on infrastructure and ecosystems.

Jan 15, 2024 | nature.com | Michael Meyer |Simon N. Topp |Tyler King |Robert Ladwig |Rachel Pilla |Jack Eggleston | +8 more

AbstractLake trophic state is a key ecosystem property that integrates a lake’s physical, chemical, and biological processes. Despite the importance of trophic state as a gauge of lake water quality, standardized and machine-readable observations are uncommon. Remote sensing presents an opportunity to detect and analyze lake trophic state with reproducible, robust methods across time and space.