Researchers tracked the appearance of 10,000 large lakes over 500,000 square kilometres of tundra from the early 1970s to 1997-98.
They found the total number of large lakes decreased by around 11 per cent. Many shrank significantly, while 125 disappeared completely and are replaced by vegetation. The overall loss of lake surface was six per cent.
Hinzman says the disappearance can be traced back to climate change's effect on the land underneath the lakes.
"As the climate has warmed, the permafrost under the lake has thawed fastest and the water from the lake will drain right into the groundwater," he says.
