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Avoiding the looming death of the global freshwater ecology: an opportunity to learn new engineering skills!

Author(s): Jorg Imberger

Linked Author(s): Jörg Imberger

Keywords: freshwater; ecology; flood control; lakes; nutrient loading; phytoplankton; carbon; oligotrophy; greenhouse gases; global warming; Imberger; Lake Iseo; ecology; limnology; Adaptive Real-Time Management Systems; ARMS; algal bloom; Lake Ypacarai

Abstract: Water is an essential requirement for human life and all of nature, yet the aggressive nature of human behaviour and the careless neglect of the externalities of our engineering designs is currently threatening world freshwater ecology. If we carry on with our business-as-usual behaviour, most freshwater life could become extinct in the next 30 years. Is this a major problem for humanity, or does it just mean that we then eat seawater fish rather than freshwater fish? Not at all: standing water bodies, natural and artificial,are enormously important for the human race. They provide water resources, recreation which is an essential element of human biology and psychology, as well as mechanisms for flood control and carbon sequestration in addition to their ecological value.

DOI:

Year: 2021

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