Human activity is pushing lakes beyond their natural carbon limits
Lakes play an important role in capturing and storing carbon, which accumulates in their sediments. But the amounts they can absorb have varied considerably over time. Jean-François Lapierre, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Université de Montréal, is part of a research team sorting out natural variations from human-influenced changes.
Human activity has pushed lakes beyond their natural carbon limits, according to a study published in Environmental Research Letters. Lakes play a crucial role in capturing and storing carbon, which accumulates in their sediments. However, the capacity of lakes to absorb carbon has varied over time. A team of researchers from Université de Montréal, in collaboration with Hydro-Québec, examined the impact of hydroelectric reservoirs on the carbon cycle and compared them with natural variations.
Their findings, based on existing data, reveal that lake sediment carbon accumulation has shifted beyond the Holocene natural variability since industrialization began around 1850. The rate at which lakes sequester carbon depends on factors like climate, nutrient inputs, and the amount of carbon supplied by the watershed. The study highlights that human activity has significantly disrupted the natural carbon cycle and calls for further analysis of the factors driving this trend to make future projections and scenarios.
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