Another side of the Anthropocene: Humans increased ecosystem vulmerability to climate variability

We show that for 1200 years (755-1934 C.E.), Lake Geneva ecological status was strongly resilient to climate variability, despite an amplitude of thermal changes that were similar to those observed during the 20th and 21th centuries. Over the last 80 years, the amount of ecological changes attributable to climate fluctuations has significantly increased. Local human impacts, responsible for the 1960s eutrophication, have made this large aquatic system vulnerable to climatic fluctuations, despite the adaptation of management practices that took place as soon as the 1970s. In a world where all ecosystems are responding to climate change, the urge to reduce local human impact is compelling, as it appears as a major resilience disruptor.