Canada has seen a decrease in snowfall over the past few years, and this is causing lakes in the subarctic regions to dry up.
A research team looked at 70 lakes around "Old Crow, Yukon, and Churchill, Manitoba," a Université LavalCana news release reported.
Almost all of the lakes that showed desiccation were less than a meter deep and were located on a "relatively flat terrain" surrounded by shrubbery.
The team believes the desiccation can be traced back to a decline in meltwater from Canada's usually abundant snowfalls.
The changes in snowfall have been significant. Between the years of 2010 and 2012 the precipitation in the Churchill region decreased by 76 mm compared with the averages between the years of 1971 and 2012.
The drying of the lakes has been so dramatic that the phenomenon has been visible to the naked eye for the past three years. Researchers noticed an even more pronounced change over the summer of 2013.
"With this type of lake, precipitation in the form of snow represents 30 percent to 50 percent of the annual water supply," the study's lead author, Frédéric Bouchard, a postdoctoral fellow at Université Laval's Department of Geography and the Centre for Northern Studies, said in the news release.
Researchers claim there has not been desiccation this significant in the past 200 years.
"It's difficult to predict all the repercussions of this habitat loss," Bouchard said, "but it's certain that the ecological consequences will be significant."
