How many lakes are there, and how big are they?

Because of the important role lakes play in regional and local biogeochemical cycling, including carbon storage and emissions, scientists need to know how many lakes of various sizes exist. However, determining the size distribution of lakes is more difficult than it may seem—the smallest lakes are often not recorded on maps. Some researchers have suggested that the number of small lakes is underestimated and have used size distributions to suggest that small lakes dominate the global lake surface area.

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