Evaporative water loss of 1.42 million global lakes

This study quantifies the evaporative water loss from 1.42 million global lakes (natural and artificial) from 1985 to 2018 using satellite observations and modeling. The long-term average lake evaporation is 1500 ± 150 km³ year⁻¹, increasing at a rate of 3.12 km³ year⁻¹. The increase is attributed to an increasing evaporation rate (58%), decreasing lake ice coverage (23%), and increasing lake surface area (19%). Artificial lakes contribute 16% to the total evaporation volume despite accounting for only 5% of global lake storage capacity. The study emphasizes the importance of using evaporation volume, not rate, to assess climatic impacts on lake systems.

Gang Zhao, Yao Li, Liming Zhou, Huilin Gao