Climate change, pollution, deforestation and over fishing threatens the ecology, ecological etability and ecosystem of the Lake Tanganyika.
Over the last century, warming water temperatures have caused changes to the lake’s ecosystems that threaten the fish species both endemic beautiful fish and the fish people depend on
for food. In last 100 years, surface waters of Lake Tanganyika have warmed by 0.9 to 1.3°C. From these records, scientists are finding that Lake Tanganyika’s surface waters are warming more rapidly than its depths.
This has the effect of creating an even sharper gradient between the upper and lower layers of the lake, and thus creating an even greater barrier to wind-induced mixing. On the other hand, number of people live in the lake’s drainage basin, and the overall populations are growing rapidly. The population growth in nearshore areas around Lake Tanganyika is nearly double the national’s average.
For the most part, the lake has relatively high quality water, except in a few areas where urban and industrial runoff has affected the lake. This is in part due to the lake’s enormous volume but this has a limit. The buffering capacity of the lake cannot handle more than a certain pollution load.
Deforestation, over-exploitation of the fishery and siltation caused by erosion from deforested areas are considered one of the main threats to the health of the lake. With increased population pressure, the ongoing problem of siltation, and now climate
change added to the mix, fish stocks, biodiversity, and water quality are expected to decline.
The particles in the lake and those washing into it, through rivers, streams, shoreline erosion, and even pollution discharges, eventually settle out to the bottom along with the decomposed remains of aquatic organisms. In a lake as deep as Tanganyika, these particles are essentially locked away in layers of mud. The bottom sediments are like a secure vault, storing the ecological history of the lake and its surrounding watershed.
In the case of Lake Tanganyika, this process has been occurring for millions of years, making it a treasure trove of information for scientists to study trends, such as the effects of climate change. Surface water warming more rapidly than its depths.
Because of the temperature differences, the bottom water is effectively isolated from the surface water. Temperature boundary formed in the lake, typically at a depth of 60 or 70 meters, as acting like a drain for nutrients and energy from the surface.
When these materials reach the oxygen-starved bottom of the lake, the difference in temperature between the upper and lower layers acts as a barrier – like oil on water – that inhibits the mixing that could replenish nutrients in brightly-lit surface waters. I am worried about humanity will facing a serious pollution problem from various sources, such as discharge of domestic sewage, population growth, rise of industrialization, use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers in agriculture, sedimentation and erosion resulting from deforestation.
Today Lake Tanganyika are highly polluted by different harmful contaminants from human activities in large cities established on its catchment areas but this areas are growing. Moreover, rift lake sediments of the type found in Lake Tanganyika are well known among geologists as reservoirs of hydrocarbons, as over millions of years vast quantities of plankton have died and settled on the lake floor.
International scientists at the site are warning that if the activities are not pursued carefully, they could cause massive and long-term environmental disaster. Countries are signing new agreements for oil and gas exploration.
