MIT, News, WHOI | March 20, 2017

World’s Lakes May be Much Shallower than Previously Thought

If lakes are shallower, they would release more methane into the atmosphere than previously estimated.
If lakes are shallower, they would release more methane into the atmosphere than previously estimated.

By EAPS News

The world’s lakes are only about two-thirds as deep, on average, as previously thought according to a mathematical analysis presented by Follows Group and MIT/WHOI graduate student B. B. Cael at a meeting of the American Physical Society this week.

If correct, Cael’s finding could help climate scientists more accurately model global climate change, as shallower lakes generate more heat-trapping methane gas.

Read more about Cael’s discovery at sciencemag.org and about Cael’s work here.