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Evaporative water loss of 1.42 million global lakes

Author

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  • Gang Zhao

    (Carnegie Institution for Science
    Texas A&M University)

  • Yao Li

    (Texas A&M University)

  • Liming Zhou

    (State University of New York at Albany)

  • Huilin Gao

    (Texas A&M University)

Abstract

The evaporative loss from global lakes (natural and artificial) is a critical component of the terrestrial water and energy balance. However, the evaporation volume of these water bodies—from the spatial distribution to the long-term trend—is as of yet unknown. Here, using satellite observations and modeling tools, we quantified the evaporation volume from 1.42 million global lakes from 1985 to 2018. We find that the long-term average lake evaporation is 1500 ± 150 km3 year−1 and it has increased at a rate of 3.12 km3 year−1. The trend attributions include an increasing evaporation rate (58%), decreasing lake ice coverage (23%), and increasing lake surface area (19%). While only accounting for 5% of the global lake storage capacity, artificial lakes (i.e., reservoirs) contribute 16% to the evaporation volume. Our results underline the importance of using evaporation volume, rather than evaporation rate, as the primary index for assessing climatic impacts on lake systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Gang Zhao & Yao Li & Liming Zhou & Huilin Gao, 2022. "Evaporative water loss of 1.42 million global lakes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-31125-6
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31125-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. R. Iestyn Woolway & Yan Tong & Lian Feng & Gang Zhao & Dieu Anh Dinh & Haoran Shi & Yunlin Zhang & Kun Shi, 2024. "Multivariate extremes in lakes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.

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