Lake Tahoe, Pyramid Lake, Walker Lake and three
other large lakes in California are warming faster than the atmosphere
around them. That’s according to a study led by NASA
researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,
Calif., and published in the November issue of Geophysical Research
Letters. The other lakes studied were Clear Lake, Lake Almanor and
Mono Lake in California.
The surface water temperature of the lakes rose twice as fast as the
regional air temperature, which may indicate that climate change could
affect aquatic environments faster than the surrounding atmosphere.
Warmer water may also help explain the rapid breeding of an invasive
clam, corbicula fluminea, in Lake Tahoe. It first appeared there in
2002 and now densely covers the lake, contributing to algae blooms.