Lake Tahoe’s best clarity in 40 years is the work of this ‘natural clean-up crew’

Lake Tahoe has attained a clarity that scientists haven’t seen in 40 years – and it’s all because of a microscopic animal acting as a “natural clean-up crew” to restore the clear blue waters. On Monday, researchers from the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) released their annual report showing that the lake’s average visibility in 2022 was at 71.7ft – compared with 61ft in 2021 – which was largely due in part to a spike in clarity in the last five months of the year. The dramatic change can be attributed to an uptick in the concentration of zooplankton.

tips

clarity：清晰

microscopic：微小的

spike：尖峰物；钉子

uptick：上升

concentration：集中；专心

dramatic：戏剧性的

zooplankton：浮游动物