Lakes help fight the climate crisis.

 


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What are Lakes?

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There is no universal definition for a lake. The International Glossary of Hydrology ( UNESCO and WMO 1992) briefly states, that a lake is an " inland body of water of considerable size" .  In the broadest sense, lakes , wetlands and reservoirs can be considered “standing water” systems. In scientific terms, standing waters are termed “lentic” systems , whereas flowing waters (rivers) are known as “lotic” systems.  • In general, because lakes usually have both inflowing and out flowing rivers, a lake basin can be characterized as a complex combination of both lentic and lotic waters, with this distinction between the two being of great importance for  lake management .  The EU Water Framework Directive , WFD (2000/60/EC) has defined a lake as a body of standing inland surface water. The Annex II of the WFD has in a way also determined also the minimum size of a lake , which should be taken into account to be 0.5 km2 (50 ha).
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Glaciers, lakes and the global hydrological cycle.

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To understand the fate of lakes , we need to zoom out to the global hydrological cycle – the invisible thread linking glaciers, rivers, wetlands, aquifers and seas. Glaciers , often called “water towers of the world”, feed many of the planet’s lakes and rivers. Nearly 1.9 billion people depend on these frozen reserves for drinking water, irrigation and hydropower. But climate change is melting glaciers at unprecedented rates . Recognizing this, 2025 marks the United Nations International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation . The year 2024 was the warmest year on record, and in 2023 alone, glaciers lost more than 600 gigatons of ice – the greatest loss in five decades. As they retreat, a new phenomenon is reshaping mountain landscapes: the explosive growth of glacial lakes . These lakes can be both lifelines and risks. They store meltwater, acting as buffers during drought . But they also pose catastrophic risks through glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) , which can devastate entire ...
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