Indicator Assessment
Water temperature
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- During the last century the water temperature of some European rivers and lakes increased by 1-3 oC, mainly as a result of air temperature increase, but also locally due to increased inputs of heated cooling water from power plants.
- In line with the projected increases in air temperature, lake surface water temperatures may be around 2 oC higher by 2070.
Water temperatures in four selected European rivers and lakes in the 20th century
Note: Annual average water temperature in River Rhine (1909-2006), River Danube (1901-1998), Lake Võrtsjärv (1947-2006), and average water temperature in August in Lake Saimaa, Finland (1924-2000).
Source 1) Trend in River Rhine water temperature 1910-2006. Rijkswaterstaat, measurements Rhine River at Lobith period 1908-2006 (non published), 2007. Timo Kroon, RIZA; t.kroon@riza.rws.minvenw.nl Source 2) Trend in River Danube water temperature 1901-1990, 2006. Severin Hohensinner; severin.hohensinner@boku.ac.at Source 3) Trend in August water temperature in Lake Saimaa 1924-2000, 2006. Korhonen Johanna; johanna.korhonen@ymparisto.fi Source 4) Trend in water temperature in Lake Võrtsjärv (1947-2006), 2007. Peeter Noges & Tiina Nõges; peeter.noges@jrc.it tiina.noges@emu.ee
Past trends
Long time-series, covering the past 100 years, show that the surface water temperatures of some of the major rivers in Europe have increased by 1-3 oC over the last century (Figure 1). The temperature of the river Rhine increased by 3 oC between 1910 and 2006. Two-thirds of this is estimated to be due to the increased use of cooling water in Germany and one-third to the increase in temperature as a result of climate change (MNP, 2006). In the river Danube the annual average temperature increased by around by 1 oC during the last century. A similar temperature increase was found in some large lakes: Lake Vortsjarv in Estonia had a 0.7 oC increase between 1947 and 2006 and the summer (August) water temperature of Lake Saimaa, Finland increased more than 1 oC over the last century. There are many shorter time-series of water temperature covering the past 30-50 years and the general trend has been for temperatures in European freshwater systems to increase, generally by from 0.05 to 0.8 oC/decade.
George and Hurley (2004) found that the temperature of Lake Windermere (England) and Lough Feeagh (Ireland) increased by 0.7-1.4 oC between 1960 and 2000. The water temperature of Lake Veluwe (the Netherlands) has increased by more than 1 oC since 1960 (MNP, 2006).
Marked increases in water temperature were found in eight Lithuanian lakes (Pernaraviciute, 2004) and six Polish lakes (Dabrowski et al., 2004). Since 1950, water temperatures in rivers and lake surface waters in Switzerland have in some cases increased by more than 2 oC (BUWAL, 2004; Hari et al., 2006). In the large lakes in the Alps the water temperature has generally increased by 0.1-0.3 oC per decade: Lake Maggiore and other large Italian lakes (Ambrosetti and Barbanti, 1999), Lake Zurich (Livingstone, 2003), Lake Constance and Lake Geneva (Anneville et al., 2005).
Dokulil et al. (2006) studied the trend in hypolimnion (bottom water) temperature in 12 deep European lakes and found generally a temperature increase of 0.1-0.2 oC per decade. This may have significant effects on thermal stratification and mixing of water in lakes, which in turn affects deep water oxygen conditions and nutrient cycling.
Projections
As water temperature is closely linked to change in air temperature, the predicted increase in air temperature due to climate change will be reflected in increased surface water temperature. This is in addition to temperature changes caused by other factors, such as changes in cooling water releases. Projected increases in surface water temperatures are often 50 to 70 % of the projected increases in air temperature. In line with the projected increases in air temperature, lake surface water temperatures may be around 2 oC higher by 2070, but with a clear seasonal dependency and depending on lake properties (Malmaeus et al., 2006; George et al., 2007).
Indicator definition
- Water temperatures in four selected European rivers and lakes in the 20th century
Units
Policy context and targets
Context description
In April 2009 the European Commission presented a White Paper on the framework for adaptation policies and measures to reduce the European Union's vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. The aim is to increase the resilience to climate change of health, property and the productive functions of land, inter alia by improving the management of water resources and ecosystems. More knowledge is needed on climate impact and vulnerability but a considerable amount of information and research already exists which can be shared better through a proposed Clearing House Mechanism. The White Paper stresses the need to mainstream adaptation into existing and new EU policies. A number of Member States have already taken action and several have prepared national adaptation plans. The EU is also developing actions to enhance and finance adaptation in developing countries as part of a new post-2012 global climate agreement expected in Copenhagen (Dec. 2009). For more information see: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/adaptation/index_en.htm
Targets
No targets have been specified
Related policy documents
No related policy documents have been specified
Methodology
Methodology for indicator calculation
Methodology for gap filling
http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/eea_report_2008_4/pp193-207CC2008_ch8_Data_gaps.pdf
Methodology references
No methodology references available.
Uncertainties
Methodology uncertainty
http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/eea_report_2008_4/pp193-207CC2008_ch8_Data_gaps.pdf
Data sets uncertainty
http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/eea_report_2008_4/pp193-207CC2008_ch8_Data_gaps.pdf
Rationale uncertainty
No uncertainty has been specified
Data sources
-
DONAR (Historical water measurement data)
provided by Rijkswaterstaat -
River Danube water temperature measurements
provided by University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) -
Water temperature in Lake Võrtsjärv
provided by Estonian University of Life Sciences -
Hydrology and Water Resources Management Data system
provided by Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)
Other info
Typology: Descriptive indicator (Type A - What is happening to the environment and to humans?)
- CLIM 019
Permalinks
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- IND-202-en
Geographic coverage
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/water-temperature/water-temperature-assessment-published-sep-2008 or scan the QR code.
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