Glacier meltwater modulation of lake warming trends in China

Long Chen; Yi Luo; Kun Yang; Senlin Zhu; Yifei Guan; Zhenhua Zhou; Guanjun Liu; Huiying Chen; Anlin Li; R. Iestyn Woolway

doi:10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2025.100147

The Innovation Geoscience > 2025 Vol. 3 > No. 3 > 100147

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Glacier meltwater modulation of lake warming trends in China

1.
Faculty of Geography, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650000, China
2.
GIS Technology Research Center of Resource and Environment in Western China, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650000, China
3.
Southwest United Graduate School, Kunming 650000, China
4.
College of Hydraulic Science and Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225000, China
5.
School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Menai Bridge, Anglesey 595AB, Wales

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Corresponding author: lysist@ynnu.edu.cn
Received Date: December 08, 2024

Accepted Date: May 29, 2025

Published Online: June 05, 2025

The Innovation Geoscience 3(3), https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2025.100147 | Cite this article

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PUBLIC SUMMARY

PUBLIC SUMMARY
1. We studied 2,260 lakes in China to assess how glacier meltwater modulates lake warming.
  
  Glacier meltwater suppressed over 86% of surface warming in glaciated lakes.
  
  Lakes in glaciated regions warmed less, especially during spring and summer melt seasons.
  
  Longwave radiation and air temperature drive glacier melt, controlling warming in glacial lakes.

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT

Global warming has led to a rapid rise in lake surface water temperature (LSWT) over the past few decades. However, in some regions, enhanced glacier meltwater due to climate change may mitigate these trends. In this study, we investigated 2,260 lakes across China to understand the impact of glacier meltwater on LSWT from 1985 to 2022. We found that glaciated regions have a significantly lower average warming rate (0.06±0.004°C decade^-1) compared to lakes in non-glaciated regions (0.17±0.004°C decade^-1) (p<0.05). This difference is more pronounced during the glacier melting season (spring and summer). Importance assessment suggested that increased longwave radiation and air temperature accelerate glacier melting, controlling warming rate in glaciated lakes (66.9%). Moreover, we find that glacier meltwater significantly impacts LSWT trends (-0.1°C decade^-1) suppressing over 86% of the warming rates in lakes located in glaciated regions. These findings provide important references to accurately evaluate the warming trend of LSWT in China, as well as more broadly, providing valuable insights for climate change impact studies and water resource management.
- glacier meltwater /
- surface water warming /
- lakes /
- cooling impact /
- importance assessment.

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Chen L., Luo Y., Yang K., et al. (2025). Glacier meltwater modulation of lake warming trends in China. The Innovation Geoscience 3:100147. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2025.100147

Chen L., Luo Y., Yang K., et al. (2025). Glacier meltwater modulation of lake warming trends in China. The Innovation Geoscience 3:100147. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2025.100147

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Glacier meltwater modulation of lake warming trends in China

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Glacier meltwater modulation of lake warming trends in China

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