"The disappearance of lakes is occurring widely across the Canadian,
Alaskan, and Siberian Arctic," said Larry Hinzman of the University of
Alaska at Fairbanks.

A 2005 study by Hinzman and his colleagues showed lakes are also
disappearing in Siberia, just south of the Arctic Circle.

Scientists speculate that there the permafrost beneath the lakes has
been melting, draining the water like pulling the plug on a bathtub.

Another study last year used satellite photos to show that lakes in
Alaska were also shrinking.

"These shrinking lakes will have a drastic ecological impact, which
will reverberate through the northern life cycle," Hinzman said.

It will hurt migratory waterfowl and the people who depend on the
lakes for subsistence hunting and fishing, he pointed out.

And there's more drying in store, he said.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...c-warming.html