Global Warming

Global Warming Is Putting The Ocean's Phytoplankton In Danger

Phytoplankton are an essential part of the marine food chain. But according to new research, their numbers are dwindling.

Phytoplankton is one of the planet's most valuable resources. They form the basis of the marine food chain and provide half the ocean's oxygen (while trees, shrubs, and grasses provide the other half). Hurricanes churn the ocean, bringing up nutrients like nitrogen, phosphate, and iron from the depths of the ocean and introducing them to the surface levels where plankton live. In turn, the phytoplankton bloom and spread, and marine life grows with it.

As the climate warms, so will the oceans—bad news for phytoplankton, since warm waters contain less oxygen, and therefore less phytoplankton, than cooler areas. Already, gradually warming ocean waters have killed off phytoplankton globally by a staggering 40 percent since 1950.

Because phytoplankton migration would cause marine life to move with it (or die, should organisms fail to adapt quickly enough to the change in their environment), that has the potential to seriously affect fisheries and other economies in the coastal areas, including food security.