Urbanization in developing countries overrides catchment productivity in fueling inland water CO2 emissions

Abstract

We compiled a nationwide dataset of carbon dioxide (CO₂ ) efflux from 1405 measurements, and found that lakes, reservoirs, and rivers emit a total of 61.9 ± 55.3 TgC as CO₂ each year, corresponding to ~6.3% of the annual total national CO₂ emission in 2020. Our analysis showed that the presence of anthropogenic disturbances in catchments strongly influences the emission of CO₂ from these waters in the non-pristine areas, masking the catchment productivity effect on the emission of CO₂ . Our results highlight the need for adjusting climate change models for taking into account anthropogenic effects on CO₂ emissions from inland waters.