Lake Tahoe Getting Warmer Than Ever, Ecology Could Revolutionize

California's Lake Tahoe is getting warmer by about 15 times its historic average because of global climate change, according to scientists. This could alter the lake's ecology.

Emerald Lake, Lake Tahoe pic.twitter.com/2ft5cwEeGs

— USA (@usa) August 1, 2016

Geoffrey Schladow from the Tahoe Environmental Research center (TERC) at the University of California Davis explained that the occurrence of rising air temperatures at Lake Tahoe has been known about for many years now and with it the warming of the lake. He further explained that what is different this year is that they are seeing more aspects of the lake's internal physics changing and that is bound to alter the ecology, as noted by Christian Monitor.

Standup paddleboarding on Lake Tahoe. pic.twitter.com/pqf7xdUvNS — Fascinating Pictures (@Fascinatingpics) July 31, 2016

The UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center stated that the continued warm and dry conditions contributed to several record-breaking measurements at Lake Tahoe in 2015. This raised concern about the ecological impacts of climate change on the second-deepest lake in the United States.

The study reveals that the temperature in 2015 warmed nearly one-half of a degree from the previous year to a record 53.3 degrees Fahrenheit. Its temperature increased over 0.3 F per year. This is about 15 times faster than the long-term average rate of 0.018 per year, according to SF Gate.

The warming of water at Lake Tahoe has major implications such as reduced mixing of the water. The mixing happens when the cold inflows sink to the bottom of the lake and push water from the depths to the surface.

Schladow said that the lake is warming due to climate change. He further said that the same factors that are affecting Tahoe are playing our in each lake and reservoir not just in California but through the entire west.