Study on the Ecological Outcome of Climate Change in Lake Kinneret, Israel: An Approach towards Thermal Pollution

The present study aims to evaluate thermal fluctuations and their implications for water quality. Water quality deterioration as a result of pollution comprised of several aspects, among others: nutrient input loads, fishery management, hydrological budget, toxicity, watershed deforestation, soil exposure, and exotic invaders. Thermal pollution is mostly considered as the impact of power or nuclear Station effluent or the effect of exceptional thermal abrupt shock. The long-term influence of global warming consideration is not extensively studied. The long-term (1969-2001) effect of climate change (warming and precipitation decline) on the Lake Kinneret ecosystem is presented. Water and air Temperature, Heat Capacity and Thermal conductivity of water combined with reduced precipitation accompanied by lake water level decline are analyzed. It was found that the temperature of surface water increased with WL decline and decreased in deep layers during high WL. This study exemplifies that even minor thermal fluctuations might be a signal of ecological modification. The only thermal measure of degrees might be insignificance for a lake under water input reduction accompanied by WL and volume decline. Future management design is suggested.