<
https://theconversation.com/why-saline-lakes-are-the-canary-in-the-coalmine-for-the-worlds-water-resources-232477>
"When it comes to inland surface water bodies, saline lakes are unique. They
make up 44% of all lakes worldwide and are found on every continent including
Antarctica. These lakes’ existence depends on a delicate balance between a
river basin’s water input (precipitation and inflows) and output (evaporation
and seepage).
The reason a lake turns saline is often because it doesn’t have a consistent
stream outlet, leading to a build-up of dissolved salts from water inflows. The
water levels of saline lakes are naturally unstable and these lakes are
generally susceptible to any disturbance.
This heightened sensitivity makes saline lakes more responsive than freshwater
lakes to natural and human-caused factors. The main cause of change in a saline
lake is disturbances in its water balance. These can be the result of natural
or human-induced factors that are local, such as droughts, pollution, and
upstream water diversions, or global, such as climate change, decreasing
precipitation and increasing temperature.
The rapid response of saline lakes to the changing conditions makes these lakes
suitable candidates for reliably reflecting the regional, and potentially
global, status of water resources, and revealing crucial changes in the water
balance. Unsurprisingly, many of the world’s saline lakes are shrinking
rapidly, a major warning about the sustainability of regional water resources."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
