Summary
Winter is the fastest warming season in the northern hemisphere. For millions of the world’s seasonally-frozen lakes, this warming means shorter and thinner ice cover and changing patterns of snow accumulation on the ice. Because ice and snow affect many fundamental physical, chemical, and biological properties of lakes, changes in winter conditions can disrupt lake ecosystems and the services they provide to humanity. Until recently, lake scientists paid relatively little attention to winter, meaning we know very little about how lakes work when covered by ice and snow and how winter conditio
