Climate Change
The changing environment poses several threats to Lake Whatcom. The most direct effect of warming is the resulting warming of lake water. As water temperature raises the solubility of phosphorus increases, making it easier for phosphorus to enter the water column via the lake substrate. This increased phosphorus can continue to lower dissolved oxygen levels. Warming of the lake can also create more favorable conditions for invasive species survival as well as decreasing native species survival rates (Salmonids for example need cold water for hearing and survival). This warming will likely also lead to fluctuations in seasonal water levels and rainfall.
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Famous quotes containing the words climate and/or change:
“When we consider how much climate contributes to the happiness of our condition, by the fine sensation it excites, and the productions it is the parent of, we have reason to value highly the accident of birth in such a one as that of Virginia.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“The phenomena of the year take place every day in a pond on a small scale. Every morning, generally speaking, the shallow water is being warmed more rapidly than the deep, though it may not be made so warm after all, and every evening it is being cooled more rapidly until the morning. The day is an epitome of the year. The night is the winter, the morning and evening are the spring and fall, and the noon is the summer. The cracking and booming of the ice indicate a change of temperature.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)