Protecting Scottish lochs from climate change 

There is a policy focus at national and international levels on mitigating climate change impacts by reducing carbon emissions and increasing carbon sequestration. However, even if we can slow climate change down, we cannot prevent or reverse it. So, alternative approaches must be used to lessen its effects. These include adaptive interventions that increase the resilience, and reduce the vulnerability, of people and nature to weather extremes and other climate change impacts. Scottish standing waters are already warming at an alarming rate and are projected to continue warming into the future. This is likely to cause more frequent and/or more intense algal blooms unless measures to reduce their growth are put in place. Since we cannot cool our water bodies, and increasing their flushing rates is unlikely to be a widely applicable solution, this study explored other options for reducing the likelihood of algal blooms worsening under climate change. The main aim of this study was to inform fit for purpose strategies for mitigating the effects of climate change on Scottish standing waters.