Temperatures take toll on African lake

A study has found that global warming is wrecking Africa's Lake Tanganyika, inflicting a catastrophic decline in fish catches.

Since the mid-1950s, catches of sardines and other food species in one of the world's largest and most productive lakes have plummeted, prompting claims of overfishing.

But research, published in Nature magazine, points the finger at the greenhouse effect.

University of Arizona researcher Catherine O'Reilly said years of data about atmospheric and water temperatures and wind speed, and measured carbon isotope levels in cores drilled into the lake sediment, showed the local temperature had risen by 0.5 to 0.7C over the past half century - a figure in line with a global increase of 0.4 to 0.8C inflicted by global warming.