The concentration of dissolved oxygen in aquatic systems helps to regulate biodiversity1,2, nutrient biogeochemistry3, greenhouse gas emissions4, and the quality of drinking water5. The long-term declines in dissolved oxygen concentrations in coastal and ocean waters have been linked to climate warming and human activity6,7, but little is known about the changes in dissolved oxygen concentrations in lakes. Although the solubility of dissolved oxygen decreases with increasing water temperatures, long-term lake trajectories are difficult to predict. Oxygen losses in warming lakes may be amplified by enhanced decomposition and stronger thermal stratification8,9 or oxygen may increase as a result of enhanced primary production10. Here we analyse a combined total of 45,148 dissolved oxygen and temperature profiles and calculate trends for 393 temperate lakes that span 1941 to 2017. We find that a decline in dissolved oxygen is widespread in surface and deep-water habitats. The decline in surface waters is primarily associated with reduced solubility under warmer water temperatures, although dissolved oxygen in surface waters increased in a subset of highly productive warming lakes, probably owing to increasing production of phytoplankton. By contrast, the decline in deep waters is associated with stronger thermal stratification and loss of water clarity, but not with changes in gas solubility. Our results suggest that climate change and declining water clarity have altered the physical and chemical environment of lakes. Declines in dissolved oxygen in freshwater are 2.75 to 9.3 times greater than observed in the world's oceans6,7 and could threaten essential lake ecosystem services2,3,5,11.

Biodiversity Division National Institute for Environmental Studies Ibaraki Japan

Biology Department State University of New York College at Oneonta Oneonta New York USA

Bureau of Water Supply New York City Department of Environmental Protection Valhalla NY USA

CARRTEL Limnology Center Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique Université Savoie Mont Blanc Chambéry France

Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies Millbrook New York USA

Centre for Freshwater and Environmental Studies Dundalk Institute of Technology Dundalk Ireland

CNR Water Research Institute Verbania Pallanza Italy

Department of Biological Sciences Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy NY USA

Department of Biology Global Water Center University of Nevada Reno NV USA

Department of Biology Miami University Oxford OH USA

Department of Biology University of Hamburg Hamburg Germany

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Milan Bicocca Milan Italy

Department of Ecology and Genetics Limnology Uppsala University Uppsala Sweden

Department of Ecology University of Innsbruck Innsbruck Austria

Department of Ecosystem Research IGB Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries Berlin Germany

Department of Environmental Science and Policy University of California Davis CA USA

Department of Experimental Limnology Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries Stechlin Germany

Department of Fisheries Wildlife and Conservation Biology University of Minnesota St Paul MN USA

Department of Hydrology Lomonosov Moscow State University Moscow Russia

Department of Sustainable Agro ecosystems and Bioresources Research and Innovation Centre Fondazione Edmund Mach San Michele all'Adige Italy

Department of Water Protection Engineering and Environmental Microbiology University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn Olsztyn Poland

Departments of Biology and Geography Université Laval Québec Canada

Eawag Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Surface Waters Research and Management Kastanienbaum Switzerland

Environmental Research Institute Hamilton New Zealand

ETH Zurich Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science Zurich Switzerland

European Space Agency Climate Office ECSAT Harwell Campus Didcot Oxfordshire UK

FB Environmental Associates Portsmouth NH USA

Institute for Global Food Security Queen's University Belfast Belfast County Antrim UK

Institute of Biochemistry and Biology Potsdam University Potsdam Germany

Institute of Environmental Change and Society University of Regina Regina Saskatchewan Canada

Institute of Geography University of Gdańsk Gdańsk Poland

Institute of Hydrobiology Biology Centre CAS České Budějovice Czech Republic

Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories University of Minnesota Lake Itasca MN USA

King County Water and Land Resources Division Seattle WA USA

Lake Ecosystems Group UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Lancaster UK

Lammi Biological Station University of Helsinki Lammi Finland

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd Hillcrest Hamilton New Zealand

Ontario Ministry of the Environment Conservation and Parks Dorset Environmental Science Centre Dorset ON Canada

Plankton Ecology and Limnology Laboratory Geographical Ecology Group and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department of Biology The University of Oklahoma Norman OK USA

School of Natural Resources University of Missouri Columbia MO USA

Vrije Universiteit Brussel Department of Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering Brussels Belgium

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Madison WI USA

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