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The Warming of Lake Tahoe

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Summary

We investigated the effects of climate variability on the thermal structure of Lake Tahoe, California-Nevada, 1970–2002, and with principal components analysis and step-wise multiple regression, related the volume-weighed average lake temperature to trends in climate. We then used a 1-dimensional hydrodynamic model to show that the observed trends in the climatic forcing variables can reasonably explain the observed changes in the lake. Between 1970 and 2002, the volume-weighted mean temperature of the lake increased at an average rate of 0.015 ∘C yr−1. Trends in the climatic drivers include 1) upward trends in maximum and minimum daily air temperature at Tahoe City; and 2) a slight upward trend in downward long-wave radiation. Changes in the thermal structure of the lake include 1) a long-term warming trend, with the highest rates near the surface and at 400 m; 2) an increase in the resistance of the lake to mixing and stratification, as measured by the Schmidt Stability and Birge Work; 3) a trend toward decreasing depth of the October thermocline. The long-term changes in the thermal structure of Lake Tahoe may interact with and exacerbate the well-documented trends in the lake's clarity and primary productivity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hydroikos Ltd., 2560 9th St., Ste. 216, Berkeley, California, 94710, USA

    Robert Coats

  2. Departament Fisica, Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain

    Joaquim Perez-Losada

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA

    Geoffrey Schladow

  4. Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA

    Robert Richards & Charles Goldman

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  1. Robert Coats
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  2. Joaquim Perez-Losada
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  3. Geoffrey Schladow
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  4. Robert Richards
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  5. Charles Goldman
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Correspondence to Robert Coats.

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Coats, R., Perez-Losada, J., Schladow, G. et al. The Warming of Lake Tahoe. Climatic Change 76, 121–148 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-005-9006-1

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