UMaine Professor Looks at Link Between Lakes and Climate Change
Contact: Jasmine Saros, (207) 581-2112
University of Maine biology and ecology Professor Jasmine Saros has co-authored a paper detailing the importance of lakes and reservoirs in understanding climate change.
Saros, also of UMaine’s Climate Change Institute, along with the first author listed on the paper Craig E. Williamson of Miami University and David W. Schindler of the University of Alberta Edmonton in Canada, recently published an article titled “Sentinels of Change” in the Feb. 13, 2009 edition of “Science” magazine.
The paper details the significance of information held in the sediments and water levels of lakes and reservoirs worldwide as it relates to environmental changes. Saros and her colleagues are using this information to determine how climate influences land and water ecosystems and to clarify the role of inland waters in regulating climate change.
From the information that’s been gathered, the future for lakes, reservoirs and the ecosystems they support looks bleak, according to the article. The authors, however, are hopeful that information gathered from inland waters may have some answers to address the challenges posed by climate change and the increase in human presence.