In what is a chilling truth, the research shows that essentially no body of water in Australia unaffected from human influence. But over the past few decades, several lakes in Utah’s Uinta Mountains appear to have begun a catastrophic shift from one recommended management strategy to another.
From Ice to T-shirt
For more than 20 years, a research team that is led by Geography associate Professor Katrina Moser has studied the Uinta Mountain lakes. And what they found is alarming and insightful at the same time.
But the biggest change they have noticed, Moser said, is in air and water temperatures. In the early days working in the region, Moser doesn’t recall ever taking off her long underwear, with temperatures constantly hovering between cold and windchill. But this year, for the first time she could wear a simple T-shirt, signaling an extraordinary period of global heating.
The increase in temperature is having a devastating impact on life in the lakes as well as the environments that they live. Once naturally infertile, the lakes are now imperiled by human-accelerated climate change and a blanket of nutrients raining down from an altered atmosphere.
The Culprit: Natural nutrifiers
The surprise influx of the nutrient into the lakes prompted researchers to investigate more, and they have discovered a source of that large amount — one coming from the atmosphere. Despite being in a fairly pristine and isolated region, these lakes receive atmospheric inputs of nutrients, especially nitrates, that primarily come from agriculture, the scientists found.
Perhaps even worse, this shows the unfathomable extent to which humans are able to harm the kelengegrove, despite appearances of pristine isolation. According to the team’s data, the rock glacier lakes in the area have up to 100 times more nitrate than would ever occur naturally.
The researchers use the example of Westminster Ponds in London, Ontario to illustrate what this means: high nutrient conditions can cause algae blooms that disrupt the ecosystem (Photo source: Brian Granju, Creative Commons License) The fear is that the Uinta Mountain lakes are on a similar trajectory, threatening to utterly upend the fragile equilibrium of many of these pristine water bodies.
Conclusion
However, the results from the research team highlighted how even the world’s most isolated and seemingly pristine habitats are at risk from human pressures. With climate change and human footprints increasing both on land and at sea, it is more important than ever to protect these incredibly unique ecosystems. Their research not only illustrates the problems conservationists are up against, but also provides unique reflections to aid in solution-based approaches for conservation management and policy. Now, by training enthusiastic students such as Chad Dickson, the team are hoping to motivate a future breed of environmental stewards who can safeguard these delicate water systems for decades to come.
