Global Lake Health in the Anthropocene: Societal Implications and Treatment Strategies

Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer; Azubuike V. Chukwuka; Orlane Anneville; Justin Brookes; Carolinne R. Carvalho; James B. Cotner; Hans‐Peter Grossart; David P. Hamilton; Paul C. Hanson; Josef Hejzlar; Sabine Hilt; Matthew R. Hipsey; Bas W. Ibelings; Stéphan Jacquet; Külli Kangur; Theis Kragh; Bernhard Lehner; Fabio Lepori; Ben Lukubye; Rafael Marce; Yvonne McElarney; Ma. Cristina Paule‐Mercado; Rebecca North; Keilor Rojas‐Jimenez; James A. Rusak; Sapna Sharma; Facundo Scordo; Lisette N. de Senerpont Domis; Jonas Stage Sø; Susanna (Susie) A. Wood; Marguerite A. Xenopoulos; Yongqiang Zhou

doi:10.1029/2023ef004387

Global Lake Health in the Anthropocene: Societal Implications and Treatment Strategies

Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer^* (Corresponding author), Azubuike V. Chukwuka, Orlane Anneville, Justin Brookes, Carolinne R. Carvalho, James B. Cotner, Hans‐Peter Grossart, David P. Hamilton, Paul C. Hanson, Josef Hejzlar, Sabine Hilt, Matthew R. Hipsey, Bas W. Ibelings, Stéphan Jacquet, Külli Kangur, Theis Kragh, Bernhard Lehner, Fabio Lepori, Ben Lukubye, Rafael MarceYvonne McElarney, Ma. Cristina Paule‐Mercado, Rebecca North, Keilor Rojas‐Jimenez, James A. Rusak, Sapna Sharma, Facundo Scordo, Lisette N. de Senerpont Domis, Jonas Stage Sø, Susanna (Susie) A. Wood, Marguerite A. Xenopoulos, Yongqiang Zhou

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/periodical › Article › Scientific › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The world's 1.4 million lakes (≥10 ha) provide many ecosystem services that are essential for human well-being; however, only if their health status is good. Here, we reviewed common lake health issues and classified them using a simple human health-based approach to outline that lakes are living systems that are in need of oxygen, clean water and a balanced energy and nutrient supply. The main reason for adopting some of the human health terminology for the lake health classification is to increase the awareness and understanding of global lake health issues. We show that lakes are exposed to various anthropogenic stressors which can result in many lake health issues, ranging from thermal, circulatory, respiratory, nutritional and metabolic issues to infections and poisoning. Of particular concern for human well-being is the widespread lake drying, which is a severe circulatory issue with many cascading effects on lake health. We estimated that ∼115,000 lakes evaporate twice as much water as they gain from direct precipitation, making them vulnerable to potential drying if inflowing waters follow the drying trend, putting more than 153 million people at risk who live in close vicinity to those lakes. Where lake health issues remain untreated, essential ecosystem services will decline or even vanish, posing a threat to the well-being of millions of people. We recommend coordinated multisectoral and multidisciplinary prevention and treatment strategies, which need to include a follow-up of the progress and an assessment of the resilience of lakes to intensifying threats. Priority should be given to implementing sewage water treatment, mitigating climate change, counteracting introductions of non-native species to lakes and decreasing uncontrolled anthropogenic releases of chemicals into the hydro-, bio-, and atmosphere.

Original language	English
Article number	e2023EF004387
Journal	Earth's Future
Volume	12
Issue number	4
Early online date	17 Apr 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2023ef004387
Publication status	Published - Apr 2024

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Weyhenmeyer, G. A., Chukwuka, A. V., Anneville, O., Brookes, J., Carvalho, C. R., Cotner, J. B., Grossart, HP., Hamilton, D. P., Hanson, P. C., Hejzlar, J., Hilt, S., Hipsey, M. R., Ibelings, B. W., Jacquet, S., Kangur, K., Kragh, T., Lehner, B., Lepori, F., Lukubye, B., ... Zhou, Y. (2024). Global Lake Health in the Anthropocene: Societal Implications and Treatment Strategies. Earth's Future, 12(4), Article e2023EF004387. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023ef004387

@article{00768e8a49184106a3068c717af030f9,

title = "Global Lake Health in the Anthropocene: Societal Implications and Treatment Strategies",

abstract = "The world's 1.4 million lakes (≥10 ha) provide many ecosystem services that are essential for human well-being; however, only if their health status is good. Here, we reviewed common lake health issues and classified them using a simple human health-based approach to outline that lakes are living systems that are in need of oxygen, clean water and a balanced energy and nutrient supply. The main reason for adopting some of the human health terminology for the lake health classification is to increase the awareness and understanding of global lake health issues. We show that lakes are exposed to various anthropogenic stressors which can result in many lake health issues, ranging from thermal, circulatory, respiratory, nutritional and metabolic issues to infections and poisoning. Of particular concern for human well-being is the widespread lake drying, which is a severe circulatory issue with many cascading effects on lake health. We estimated that ∼115,000 lakes evaporate twice as much water as they gain from direct precipitation, making them vulnerable to potential drying if inflowing waters follow the drying trend, putting more than 153 million people at risk who live in close vicinity to those lakes. Where lake health issues remain untreated, essential ecosystem services will decline or even vanish, posing a threat to the well-being of millions of people. We recommend coordinated multisectoral and multidisciplinary prevention and treatment strategies, which need to include a follow-up of the progress and an assessment of the resilience of lakes to intensifying threats. Priority should be given to implementing sewage water treatment, mitigating climate change, counteracting introductions of non-native species to lakes and decreasing uncontrolled anthropogenic releases of chemicals into the hydro-, bio-, and atmosphere.",

author = "Weyhenmeyer, {Gesa A.} and Chukwuka, {Azubuike V.} and Orlane Anneville and Justin Brookes and Carvalho, {Carolinne R.} and Cotner, {James B.} and Hans‐Peter Grossart and Hamilton, {David P.} and Hanson, {Paul C.} and Josef Hejzlar and Sabine Hilt and Hipsey, {Matthew R.} and Ibelings, {Bas W.} and St{\'e}phan Jacquet and K{\"u}lli Kangur and Theis Kragh and Bernhard Lehner and Fabio Lepori and Ben Lukubye and Rafael Marce and Yvonne McElarney and Paule‐Mercado, {Ma. Cristina} and Rebecca North and Keilor Rojas‐Jimenez and Rusak, {James A.} and Sapna Sharma and Facundo Scordo and {de Senerpont Domis}, {Lisette N.} and S{\o}, {Jonas Stage} and Wood, {Susanna (Susie) A.} and Xenopoulos, {Marguerite A.} and Yongqiang Zhou",

note = "Data archiving: reuse of https://doi.org/10.1890/100125",

year = "2024",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1029/2023ef004387",

language = "English",

volume = "12",

journal = "Earth's Future",

issn = "2328-4277",

publisher = "Wiley Online Library",

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Weyhenmeyer, GA, Chukwuka, AV, Anneville, O, Brookes, J, Carvalho, CR, Cotner, JB, Grossart, HP, Hamilton, DP, Hanson, PC, Hejzlar, J, Hilt, S, Hipsey, MR, Ibelings, BW, Jacquet, S, Kangur, K, Kragh, T, Lehner, B, Lepori, F, Lukubye, B, Marce, R, McElarney, Y, Paule‐Mercado, MC, North, R, Rojas‐Jimenez, K, Rusak, JA, Sharma, S, Scordo, F, de Senerpont Domis, LN, Sø, JS, Wood, SA, Xenopoulos, MA & Zhou, Y 2024, 'Global Lake Health in the Anthropocene: Societal Implications and Treatment Strategies', Earth's Future, vol. 12, no. 4, e2023EF004387. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023ef004387

TY - JOUR

T1 - Global Lake Health in the Anthropocene: Societal Implications and Treatment Strategies

AU - Weyhenmeyer, Gesa A.

AU - Chukwuka, Azubuike V.

AU - Anneville, Orlane

AU - Brookes, Justin

AU - Carvalho, Carolinne R.

AU - Cotner, James B.

AU - Grossart, Hans‐Peter

AU - Hamilton, David P.

AU - Hanson, Paul C.

AU - Hejzlar, Josef

AU - Hilt, Sabine

AU - Hipsey, Matthew R.

AU - Ibelings, Bas W.

AU - Jacquet, Stéphan

AU - Kangur, Külli

AU - Kragh, Theis

AU - Lehner, Bernhard

AU - Lepori, Fabio

AU - Lukubye, Ben

AU - Marce, Rafael

AU - McElarney, Yvonne

AU - Paule‐Mercado, Ma. Cristina

AU - North, Rebecca

AU - Rojas‐Jimenez, Keilor

AU - Rusak, James A.

AU - Sharma, Sapna

AU - Scordo, Facundo

AU - de Senerpont Domis, Lisette N.

AU - Sø, Jonas Stage

AU - Wood, Susanna (Susie) A.

AU - Xenopoulos, Marguerite A.

AU - Zhou, Yongqiang

N1 - Data archiving: reuse of https://doi.org/10.1890/100125

PY - 2024/4

Y1 - 2024/4

N2 - The world's 1.4 million lakes (≥10 ha) provide many ecosystem services that are essential for human well-being; however, only if their health status is good. Here, we reviewed common lake health issues and classified them using a simple human health-based approach to outline that lakes are living systems that are in need of oxygen, clean water and a balanced energy and nutrient supply. The main reason for adopting some of the human health terminology for the lake health classification is to increase the awareness and understanding of global lake health issues. We show that lakes are exposed to various anthropogenic stressors which can result in many lake health issues, ranging from thermal, circulatory, respiratory, nutritional and metabolic issues to infections and poisoning. Of particular concern for human well-being is the widespread lake drying, which is a severe circulatory issue with many cascading effects on lake health. We estimated that ∼115,000 lakes evaporate twice as much water as they gain from direct precipitation, making them vulnerable to potential drying if inflowing waters follow the drying trend, putting more than 153 million people at risk who live in close vicinity to those lakes. Where lake health issues remain untreated, essential ecosystem services will decline or even vanish, posing a threat to the well-being of millions of people. We recommend coordinated multisectoral and multidisciplinary prevention and treatment strategies, which need to include a follow-up of the progress and an assessment of the resilience of lakes to intensifying threats. Priority should be given to implementing sewage water treatment, mitigating climate change, counteracting introductions of non-native species to lakes and decreasing uncontrolled anthropogenic releases of chemicals into the hydro-, bio-, and atmosphere.

AB - The world's 1.4 million lakes (≥10 ha) provide many ecosystem services that are essential for human well-being; however, only if their health status is good. Here, we reviewed common lake health issues and classified them using a simple human health-based approach to outline that lakes are living systems that are in need of oxygen, clean water and a balanced energy and nutrient supply. The main reason for adopting some of the human health terminology for the lake health classification is to increase the awareness and understanding of global lake health issues. We show that lakes are exposed to various anthropogenic stressors which can result in many lake health issues, ranging from thermal, circulatory, respiratory, nutritional and metabolic issues to infections and poisoning. Of particular concern for human well-being is the widespread lake drying, which is a severe circulatory issue with many cascading effects on lake health. We estimated that ∼115,000 lakes evaporate twice as much water as they gain from direct precipitation, making them vulnerable to potential drying if inflowing waters follow the drying trend, putting more than 153 million people at risk who live in close vicinity to those lakes. Where lake health issues remain untreated, essential ecosystem services will decline or even vanish, posing a threat to the well-being of millions of people. We recommend coordinated multisectoral and multidisciplinary prevention and treatment strategies, which need to include a follow-up of the progress and an assessment of the resilience of lakes to intensifying threats. Priority should be given to implementing sewage water treatment, mitigating climate change, counteracting introductions of non-native species to lakes and decreasing uncontrolled anthropogenic releases of chemicals into the hydro-, bio-, and atmosphere.

U2 - 10.1029/2023ef004387

DO - 10.1029/2023ef004387

M3 - Article

SN - 2328-4277

VL - 12

JO - Earth's Future

JF - Earth's Future

IS - 4

M1 - e2023EF004387

ER -

Global Lake Health in the Anthropocene: Societal Implications and Treatment Strategies

Abstract

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