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The world's freshwater lakes are freezing over for shorter periods of time due to climate change. This shift has major implications for human safety, as well as water quality, biodiversity, and global nutrient cycles, according to a review from an international team of researchers led by Carnegie Science's Stephanie Hampton.

Undertaken by scientists based in the United States, Canada, and Sweden, this analysis represents a major call-to-action for wintertime freshwater ecology research. It is published in Science.

The world has millions of freshwater lakes, most of which freeze during the winter. The team's rigorous review indicates a massive shift in lake ice duration over the past 25 years, with melting starting at least a month earlier than in previous centuries.

"The average duration of iced-over conditions has decreased by 31 days over the last 165 years and thousands of lakes that historically froze over every winter now experience ice-free years," Hampton explains.

"This has major implications for communities around the world that depend on these lakes for drinking water, recreation, fishing, and ice-road transportation, as well as for spiritual and cultural identity."

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