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The scientific understanding of the likelihood of such abrupt changes to the water cycle is not yet clear. [7]: 1151 Sudden changes in the water cycle due to human activity are a possibility that cannot be ruled out, with current scientific knowledge. However, the likelihood that such changes will occur during the 21st century is currently ...
Seasonal changes in temperature and rainfall lead to seasonal changes in water column stability. During periods of low water column stability, a deeper mixed layer (total or partial mixing of the water column, depending on the lake) increases the inputs of nutrients and organic matter from deeper layers and through sediment resuspension, which ...
The water cycle is essential to life on Earth and plays a large role in the global climate system and ocean circulation. The warming of our planet is expected to be accompanied by changes in the water cycle for various reasons. [24] For example, a warmer atmosphere can contain more water vapor which has effects on evaporation and rainfall.
Temperature is an important abiotic factor in lentic ecosystems because most of the biota are poikilothermic, where internal body temperatures are defined by the surrounding system. Water can be heated or cooled through radiation at the surface and conduction to or from the air and surrounding substrate. [6]
External factors, also called state factors, control the overall structure of an ecosystem and the way things work within it, but are not themselves influenced by the ecosystem. On broad geographic scales, climate is the factor that "most strongly determines ecosystem processes and structure".
Fisheries are affected by climate change in many ways: marine aquatic ecosystems are being affected by rising ocean temperatures, [100] ocean acidification [101] and ocean deoxygenation, while freshwater ecosystems are being impacted by changes in water temperature, water flow, and fish habitat loss. [102]
The amount of water in a stream is measured as discharge (volume per unit time). As water flows downstream, streams and rivers most often gain water volume, so at base flow (i.e., no storm input), smaller headwater streams have very low discharge, while larger rivers have much higher discharge. The "flow regime" of a river or stream includes ...
Drivers of change in marine ecosystems [146] Changes in marine ecosystem dynamics are influenced by socioeconomic activities (for example, fishing, pollution) and human-induced biophysical change (for example, temperature, ocean acidification) and can interact and severely impact marine ecosystem dynamics and the ecosystem services they ...