Global Warming-Ohrid Lake

7/29/2019 Global Warming-Ohrid Lake

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GLOBAL WARMING AND ITS IMPACT ON LAKE OHRID

Milco Georgievski 2009


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Global warming is the increase in the average

temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans

since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation.

During the last century the global surface temperature

increased 0.74 0.18 C. Climate model projectionssummarized in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on

Climate Change(IPCC) report indicate that the global

surface temperature will probably rise a further 1.1 to

6.4 C during the twenty-first century. Increasing global

temperature will cause sea levels to rise and will change

the amount and pattern of precipitation, probably

including expansion of subtropical deserts.

GLOBAL WARMING


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Human pollution threatens Lake Ohrid, the UNESCO World Heritage

Site, including its large number of unique animal and plant species.

The negative effects of pollution could be further amplified by expected

global warming.

Most of the large lakes on our planet have a "life expectancy" of less

than 100,000 years. Lake Ohrid is the only such ancient lake in Europe,

providing stable living conditions for freshwater life for 2-5 million years.

Thanks to high survival and evolution during this long time, more than

200 species are unique to Lake Ohrid today.Given the population growth over the past 50 years, a particular concern

is the potential eutrophication of currently oligotrophic Lake Ohrid from

increased pollution. On the other hand, higher nutrient levels have

reduced the water transparency, as well as the oxygen availability in the

deep water and at the lake bottom, two properties which are requisite forthe endemic flora and fauna. Still, the lake is in a comparably good state

at the moment. However it may take more than a decade to see the

effects of today's pollution level in the lake, because of its long water

residence time. Moreover it was shown that the negative effects from

eutrophication would be significantly amplified by global warming.


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EXPECTED IMPACTS FROM CLIMATE CHANGE

IN THE LAKE OHRID REGION

BIODIVERSITY

TOURISM


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Biodiversity:

Climate change impact on Ohrid and Struga Marshes will be at mostexpressed in relict communities and species characterized with fragmenteddistribution-ass. Caricetum elatae, subass. Lysymachietosum.he most vulnerable to climate change are the following species inLake Ohrid: flora-Carex elata, Senecio paludosus, Ranunculus lingua;communities: ass. Caricetum elataesubass. Lysymachietosum;fauna-Ohrid Minnow (Phoxinellus epiroticus), Ohrid Roach (Rutilusohridanus), Ohrid Salmon (Acantholingua ohridana), Struga Trout (Salmobalcanicus), Ohrid Trout (Salmo letnica).

Tourism:

Lakeside tourism is attractive mainly in summer. Lake Ohrid is the mostpopular natural tourist destinations in Macedonia. The summer seasoncould be extended as a result of the temperature rise, which could be ofbenefit, bearing in mind that Ohrid generates the highest revenues from

tourism. The climate in this region is hot continental and the predictedtemperature rise is lower than that in the rest of the country. Tourism is alsoa large consumer of water per capita-above the global average. Biggerwater consumption would require provision of a new potable water supplyresources, and construction of new sewage systems, especially for thetourist destinations. Inevitably, energy consumption will increase, also as

the need for cooling of indoor premises becomes essential with thetemperature increase.


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ADAPTIVE MEASURES TO BE TAKEN FOR CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION

Some of the highest priority adaptation measures considering thebiodiversity are listed below:

Elaboration of a distribution map of the major ecosystem types, map ofbiomes, and mapping of habitats and vegetation types for precise inventoryingof the biodiversity and implementation of appropriate measures;

Development of a sufficient network of meteorological stations in order to servefor the precise determination of climate conditions on mesoclimatic andmicroclimatic levels, which is the starting point for modeling the future changes;

Strengthening the capacities of the staff in order to implement the above-mentioned adaptation measures and monitoring.

Some of the highest priority adaptation measures in the efforts for mitigation

and improvements that should be made to the tourist destinations:

Ensuring proper management of the waste generated by both households andtourist industry is of immense importance for the environment, thus mitigatingpotential health risks and damage to the natural resources;

Energy efficiency standards in the new tourist accommodation, as well asmechanisms for energy conservation should be implemented, afterimprovement of the current legislation is made;

The government should provide incentives, such as a tax free regime, etc., forimplementation of energy conservation measures, installment of solar panels,energy saving mechanisms, etc., in the tourist accommodation facilities;

In addition, sustainable transport within the tourist zones should be provided,such as electric trains and minivans instead of cars, gas-fuelled buses, etc.

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Global Warming-Ohrid Lake