Global warming will kill plankton, source of all ocean life
New research by professor Jef Huisman of the University of Amsterdam has found that global warming has the potential to wipe out plankton, thereby disturbing the source of all ocean life and closing down one of the world's major carbon sinks.
22nd January 2006
carbon-info.org
In the ocean, plankton feeds off nutrients containing nitrogen, iron and phosphorus, which is lifted upward (3) and mixed with the upper layers of water where the plankton lives.
Plankton use the nutrients and sunlight (5) to absorb vast quantities of CO2 (1) from the atmosphere and convert it into organic carbon.
Plankton is also the foundation for the entire ocean eco-system (2), as they are eaten by anything from small krill to large whales.
When the plankton dies, it sinks to the bottom (4) of the ocean. The carbon locked up in its shelf is deposited and stored on the seabed for thousands of years
Mr. Huisman has found that when the upper layers of the ocean heats up, the mixing of the warm water with the colder layers of water below is significantly reduced. This leads to a situation where the plankton will starve as no new nutrients (3) will be available to feed on.
The result is the collapse of the entire eco-system and destruction of a major carbon sink, which will trigger a much feared positive feedback process.
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