As the vital component of inland water bodies, lakes are hotspots for greenhouse gas (GHG), specifically carbon dioxide and methane (CO2 and CH4) emissions, and the carbon cycles, contributing significantly to global carbon budget. However, lakes are widespread and exhibit complex ecological characteristics. The complex carbon cycling process within lake systems, coupled with numerous influencing factors under the global changes, demonstrating pronounced spatial and temporal heterogeneity in CO2 and CH4 emission fluxes, leading to large uncertainties in estimation of lake CO2 and CH4 emission fluxes. The study of lake CO2 and CH4 emission patterns and the driving mechanisms is crucial for advancing our understanding of global carbon budget estimation and the role of lake in global carbon cycle. This work synthesized the emission characteristics of CO2 and CH4 from 277 lakes across various global regions and provided a comparative analysis of emission pathways, production and consumption mechanisms, monitoring methods, and the key influencing factors. The results indicated that CO2 emission fluxes ranged from -15.92 mmol·m-2·d-1 to 245.30 mmol·m-2·d-1, while CH4 fluxes ranged from 4.38×10-4 mmol·m-2·d-1 to 11.00 mmol·m-2·d-1. The CO2 and CH4 fluxes exhibited distinct characteristics according to their geographical location and physicochemical properties. Thus, we categorized the lakes included in this study based on elevation, salinity, surface area, water depth, and the trophic statues. The results suggested these lake characteristics significantly influenced CO2 and CH4 emissions, which primarily produced by microbial-driven carbon transformation processes. Furthermore, these lake factors are closely coupled with other hydrological factors, resulting in complex synergistic effects. They influenced the processes of gas production, consumption, and emission within lakes, thereby affecting the CO2 and CH4 emission fluxes from lakes. The primary pathways of CO2 and CH4 emission from lakes include: diffusion, bubbling, and transport by plants. Environmental factors modulated CO2 and CH4 emission fluxes by affecting substrate availability, reaction temperature, and the activity of microbial carbon transformation processes, as well as the chosen monitoring methods. The heterogeneity in monitoring systems and methodologies used in current research led to challenges in the comparability of emission flux data. Additionally, the complex mechanisms underlying CO2 and CH4 production, emission, and transformation in lakes remained inadequately explored. Therefore, future studies should focus on enhancing methodological frameworks for CO2 and CH4 flux observation, investigating the mechanisms of microbially driven transformations, and exploring deeper relationships between GHG fluxes and these carbon transformation processes in lakes. The results will contributing foundational data for artificial intelligence modeling and providing scientific supports for accurate estimation of the global carbon budgets.