Abstract Large lakes of the world are habitats for diverse species, including endemic taxa, and are valuable resources that provide humanity with many ecosystem services. They are also sentinels of global and local change, and recent studies in limnology and paleolimnology have demonstrated disturbing evidence of their collective degradation in terms of depletion of resources (water and food), rapid warming and loss of ice, destruction of habitats and ecosystems, loss of species, and accelerating pollution. Large lakes are particularly exposed to anthropogenic and climatic stressors. The Second Warning to Humanity provides a framework to assess the dangers now threatening the world’s large lake ecosystems and to evaluate pathways of sustainable development that are more respectful of their ongoing provision of services. Here we review current and emerging threats to the large lakes of the world, including iconic examples of lake management failures and successes, from which we identify priorities and approaches for future conservation efforts. The review underscores the extent of lake resource degradation, which is a result of cumulative perturbation through time by long-term human impacts combined with other emerging stressors. Decades of degradation of large lakes have resulted in major challenges for restoration and management and a legacy of ecological and economic costs for future generations. Large lakes will require more intense conservation efforts in a warmer, increasingly populated world to achieve sustainable, high-quality waters. This Warning to Humanity is also an opportunity to highlight the value of a long-term lake observatory network to monitor and report on environmental changes in large lake ecosystems.

中文翻译：

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科学家对人类的警告：世界大湖正在迅速退化

摘要 世界上的大型湖泊是包括地方性分类群在内的多种物种的栖息地，是为人类提供多种生态系统服务的宝贵资源。它们也是全球和局部变化的哨兵，最近湖沼学和古湖沼学研究表明，在资源（水和食物）枯竭、迅速变暖和冰层消失、栖息地和生态系统破坏、物种流失，加速污染。大型湖泊尤其容易受到人为和气候压力因素的影响。对人类的第二次警告提供了一个框架来评估现在威胁着世界大湖生态系统的危险，并评估可持续发展的途径，这些途径更尊重其持续提供的服务。在这里，我们回顾了对世界大型湖泊当前和新出现的威胁，包括湖泊管理失败和成功的标志性例子，从中我们确定了未来保护工作的优先事项和方法。该审查强调了湖泊资源退化的程度，这是长期人类影响与其他新出现的压力因素相结合的累积扰动的结果。大型湖泊数十年的退化给恢复和管理带来了重大挑战，并为后代留下了生态和经济成本。在一个更温暖、人口越来越多的世界中，大型湖泊将需要更密集的保护工作，以实现可持续的高质量水域。