| 1. |
- Sharma, Sapna, et al.
(författare)
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Increased winter drownings in ice-covered regions with warmer winters
- 2020
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 15:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Winter activities on ice are culturally important for many countries, yet they constitute a high safety risk depending upon the stability of the ice. Because consistently cold periods are required to form stable and thick ice, warmer winters could degrade ice conditions and increase the likelihood of falling through the ice. This study provides the first large-scale assessment of winter drowning from 10 Northern Hemisphere countries. We documented over 4000 winter drowning events. Winter drownings increased exponentially in regions with warmer winters when air temperatures neared 0 degrees C. The largest number of drownings occurred when winter air temperatures were between -5 degrees C and 0 degrees C, when ice is less stable, and also in regions where indigenous traditions and livelihood require extended time on ice. Rates of drowning were greatest late in the winter season when ice stability declines. Children and adults up to the age of 39 were at the highest risk of winter drownings. Beyond temperature, differences in cultures, regulations, and human behaviours can be important additional risk factors. Our findings indicate the potential for increased human mortality with warmer winter air temperatures. Incorporating drowning prevention plans would improve adaptation strategies to a changing climate.
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| 2. |
- Sharma, Sapna, et al.
(författare)
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Long-term ice phenology records spanning up to 578 years for 78 lakes around the Northern Hemisphere
- 2022
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Ingår i: Scientific Data. - : Springer Nature. - 2052-4463. ; 9:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In recent decades, lakes have experienced unprecedented ice loss with widespread ramifications for winter ecological processes. The rapid loss of ice, resurgence of winter biology, and proliferation of remote sensing technologies, presents a unique opportunity to integrate disciplines to further understand the broad spatial and temporal patterns in ice loss and its consequences. Here, we summarize ice phenology records for 78 lakes in 12 countries across North America, Europe, and Asia to permit the inclusion and harmonization of in situ ice phenology observations in future interdisciplinary studies. These ice records represent some of the longest climate observations directly collected by people. We highlight the importance of applying the same definition of ice-on and ice-off within a lake across the time-series, regardless of how the ice is observed, to broaden our understanding of ice loss across vast spatial and temporal scales.
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| 3. |
- Sharma, Sapna, et al.
(författare)
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Loss of Ice Cover, Shifting Phenology, and More Extreme Events in Northern Hemisphere Lakes
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research - Biogeosciences. - : American Geophysical Union (AGU). - 2169-8953 .- 2169-8961. ; 126:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Long-term lake ice phenological records from around the Northern Hemisphere provide unique sensitive indicators of climatic variations, even prior to the existence of physical meteorological measurement stations. Here, we updated ice phenology records for 60 lakes with time-series ranging from 107-204 years to provide the first re-assessment of Northern Hemispheric ice trends since 2004 by adding 15 additional years of ice phenology records and 40 lakes to our study. We found that, on average, ice-on was 11.0 days later, ice-off was 6.8 days earlier, and ice duration was 17.0 days shorter per century over the entire record for each lake. Trends in ice-on and ice duration were six times faster in the last 25-year period (1992-2016) than previous quarter centuries. More extreme events in recent decades, including late ice-on, early ice-off, shorter periods of ice cover, or no ice cover at all, contribute to the increasing rate of lake ice loss. Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions could limit increases in air temperature and abate losses in lake ice cover that would subsequently limit ecological, cultural, and socioeconomic consequences, such as increased evaporation rates, warmer water temperatures, degraded water quality, and the formation of toxic algal blooms.
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| 4. |
- Sharma, Sapna, et al.
(författare)
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Widespread loss of lake ice around the Northern Hemisphere in a warming world
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nature Climate Change. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 1758-678X .- 1758-6798. ; 9:3, s. 227-231
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ice provides a range of ecosystem services-including fish harvest(1), cultural traditions(2), transportation(3), recreation(4) and regulation of the hydrological cycle(5)-to more than half of the world's 117 million lakes. One of the earliest observed impacts of climatic warming has been the loss of freshwater ice(6), with corresponding climatic and ecological consequences(7). However, while trends in ice cover phenology have been widely documented(2,6,8,9), a comprehensive large-scale assessment of lake ice loss is absent. Here, using observations from 513 lakes around the Northern Hemisphere, we identify lakes vulnerable to ice-free winters. Our analyses reveal the importance of air temperature, lake depth, elevation and shoreline complexity in governing ice cover. We estimate that 14,800 lakes currently experience intermittent winter ice cover, increasing to 35,300 and 230,400 at 2 and 8 degrees C, respectively, and impacting up to 394 and 656 million people. Our study illustrates that an extensive loss of lake ice will occur within the next generation, stressing the importance of climate mitigation strategies to preserve ecosystem structure and function, as well as local winter cultural heritage.
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