Oxygen Levels Dropping in US and European Lakes: Study

Researchers find a widespread decline in dissolved oxygen levels in lakes, which is known to reshape ecosystems.

Written byLisa Winter

| 2 min read

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Nearly 400 lakes, primarily in the US and Europe, now have drastically lower oxygen saturation levels than they did in 1941, according to a study published June 2 in Nature. The authors report that as the climate continues to warm, the size of “dead zones,” low-oxygen areas of lakes and oceans ill-suited to support aquatic life, will also increase.

As water temperatures increase, oxygen becomes less soluble due to the water molecules’ kinetic energy. This not only creates hypoxic conditions that are unable to support aquatic life, causing massive die-offs, but also can enable methane, a greenhouse gas, to leak from sediment at the bottom of bodies of water.

“We know that most or many places around the planet are warming,” coauthor Kevin Rose of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York tells the Associated Press, “and so we would expect to see declining solubility.”

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Meet the Author

Lisa Winter
Lisa joined The Scientist in 2017. As social media editor, some of her duties include creating content, managing interactions, and developing strategies for the brand’s social media presence. She also contributes to the News & Opinion section of the website. Lisa holds a degree in Biological Sciences with a concentration in genetics, cell, and developmental biology from Arizona State University and has worked in science communication since 2012.
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