Towards critical white ice conditions in lakes under global warming

Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer (), Ulrike Obertegger, Hugo Rudebeck, Ellinor Jakobsson, Joachim Jansen, Galina Zdorovennova, Sheel Bansal, Benjamin D. Block, Cayelan C. Carey, Jonathan P. Doubek, Hilary Dugan, Oxana Erina, Irina Fedorova, Janet M. Fischer, Laura Grinberga, Hans-Peter Grossart, Külli Kangur, Lesley B. Knoll, Alo Laas, Fabio Lepori, Jacob Meier, Nikolai Palshin, Mark Peternell, Merja Pulkkanen, James A. Rusak, Sapna Sharma, Danielle Wain and Roman Zdorovennov
Additional contact information
Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer: Uppsala University
Ulrike Obertegger: Research and Innovation Centre
Hugo Rudebeck: Uppsala University
Ellinor Jakobsson: Uppsala University
Joachim Jansen: Uppsala University
Galina Zdorovennova: Karelian Research Centre RAS
Sheel Bansal: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Benjamin D. Block: Tetra Tech, Inc.
Cayelan C. Carey: Virginia Tech
Jonathan P. Doubek: Lake Superior State University
Hilary Dugan: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Oxana Erina: Lomonosov Moscow State University
Irina Fedorova: St Petersburg State University
Janet M. Fischer: Franklin & Marshall College
Laura Grinberga: University of Latvia
Hans-Peter Grossart: Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries
Külli Kangur: Estonian University of Life- Sciences
Lesley B. Knoll: University of Minnesota
Alo Laas: Estonian University of Life- Sciences
Fabio Lepori: University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland
Jacob Meier: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Nikolai Palshin: Karelian Research Centre RAS
Mark Peternell: University of Gothenburg
Merja Pulkkanen: Finnish Environment Institute
James A. Rusak: Queen’s University
Sapna Sharma: York University
Danielle Wain: 7 Lakes Alliance
Roman Zdorovennov: Karelian Research Centre RAS

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract The quality of lake ice is of uppermost importance for ice safety and under-ice ecology, but its temporal and spatial variability is largely unknown. Here we conducted a coordinated lake ice quality sampling campaign across the Northern Hemisphere during one of the warmest winters since 1880 and show that lake ice during 2020/2021 commonly consisted of unstable white ice, at times contributing up to 100% to the total ice thickness. We observed that white ice increased over the winter season, becoming thickest and constituting the largest proportion of the ice layer towards the end of the ice cover season when fatal winter drownings occur most often and light limits the growth and reproduction of primary producers. We attribute the dominance of white ice before ice-off to air temperatures varying around the freezing point, a condition which occurs more frequently during warmer winters. Thus, under continued global warming, the prevalence of white ice is likely to substantially increase during the critical period before ice-off, for which we adjusted commonly used equations for human ice safety and light transmittance through ice.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32633-1

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