Lake It or Not

Overuse and pollution of the world's lakes threaten nearly 1 billion people who depend on lake water for fishing, irrigation, transportation, tourism, sewage, and drinking water, global experts said during an international conference on lake management being held this week in Japan. More than half of the world's lakes and reservoirs are already suffering from pollution and drainage, and the problems will worsen as population increases and global warming intensifies, delegates said. The most threatened lakes include the Great Lakes in North America, Lake Okeechobee in Florida, Lake Victoria in Africa, and the Aral Sea. China's lakes have already been hit hard, with 543 large and medium-sized lakes disappearing between 1950 and 1980. Read more about China's irrigation crisis on the Grist Magazine website.