HONG KONG: A team of biologist from the Johns Hopkins University has published a study in the journal Science that suggests the rising phenomenon of planktons in our oceans is mostly caused by rising incidents of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and in the waters.
Since the last few decades, the concentration of the marine alga called coccolithophores has increased ten times in the Atlantic Ocean. Researchers consider this as the first signs of environmental changes due to rise in CO2, which is also considered a major reason for global warming.
Past research concluded that the plankton would be affected if the CO2 levels rise. Scientist believed if enough CO2 permeated into the water, they would become more acidic and the more acid the water, the less microscopical life would exist. But it seems that this new study has proved the old theory wrong.
In their study, the team analyzed Continuous Plankton Recorder survey data from the North Atlantic Ocean and North Sea since the mid-1960s until 2010. They used Random Forest models to examine 20 possible environmental causes of this change and the data revealed that higher carbon dioxide levels in our planet’s oceans may be causing the increase in the population of coccolithophores.
