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Climate change decreases aquatic ecosystem productivity of Lake Tanganyika, Africa

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C. O'Reilly
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This paper presents evidence that climate warming is diminishing productivity in Lake Tanganyika, East Africa. This lake has historically supported a highly productive pelagic fishery that currently provides 25–40% of the animal protein supply for the populations of the surrounding countries.Using a study of historical water temperatures and wind speeds, which affect nutrients in the lake, the authors discover a roughly 30% decrease in fish yields. They conclude that that the impact of regional effects of global climate change on aquatic ecosystem functions and services can be larger than that of local anthropogenic activity or overfishing. [Adapted from SciDev.Net and authors]