Decline in oceans' phytoplankton alarms scientists

[jamesinca]

Decline in oceans' phytoplankton alarms scientists
Experts pondering whether reduction of marine plant life is linked to warming of the seas

David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor Monday, October 6, 2003

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Plant life covering the surface of the world's oceans, a vital resource that helps absorb the worst of the "greenhouse gases" involved in global warming, is disappearing at a dangerous rate, scientists have discovered.

Satellites and seagoing ships have confirmed the diminishing productivity of the microscopic plants, which oceanographers say is most striking in the waters of the North Pacific -- ranging as far up as the high Arctic.

Whether the lost productivity of the plants, called phytoplankton, is directly due to increased ocean temperatures that have been recorded for at least the past 20 years remains part of an extremely complex puzzle, says Watson W. Gregg, a NASA biologist at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., but it surely offers a fresh clue to the controversy over climate change.

According to Gregg, the greatest loss of phytoplankton has occurred where ocean temperatures have risen most significantly between the early 1980s and the late 1990s. In the North Atlantic summertime, sea surface temperatures rose about 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit during that period, Gregg said, while in the North Pacific the ocean's surface temperatures rose about 7/10ths of a degree

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/10/06/MN31432.DTL

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I thought global warming did not exist, even if it did, it is harmless, Bush said so!

[Barrett808]

1. We are so f*cked

I've been saying this a dozen times a day lately.

[pfitz59]

2. Ruh, roh George!

Total collapse of ocean ecology would be a VERY BAD THING! Course georgie peorgie is clueless.

[The Zanti Regent]

11. Jesus, Hurry up and Rapture the RepubliKKKans

After all, they all believe that they are going to be caught up in the air REAL SOON and leave earth to us Gawdless Democrats...

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

3. Even MORE fscked

Phytoplankton are the main source of -- get this -- oxygen. Rain forests account for only about 30%.

I don't have a source readily available, but I was taught that in Biology in the 70's (at a level equivalent to High School). I welcome corroborations and refutations alike.

[Lorien]

4. Fucked and dead

we're killing ourselves, plain and simple. Will we end in our generation, or the next?

[Eloriel]

28. Species suicide

That was the term Russell Means used a number of years ago at a booksigning when he was asked about environmental damage. It was accompanied with a shrug. "Species suicide." Shrug. End of discussion.

Eloriel

[tom_paine]

5. Behind all our petty strivings stand the Earth

She holds all the trump cards. And she is about to play her hand.

[revree]

6. REPUBLICANS MUST GO

Or we will all boil over and die.

[ElementaryPenguin]

20. Right on, R!!

We can't let these short-sighted fools take us all with them!! They are clearly not evolving - so the hell with them!!! I'm not letting my kids and grandkids perish because of Crush Limpballs and his big fucking ignorant mouth!!

[hatrack]

7. But there's a simple solution!

Give that phytoplankton a TAX CUT - after all, it's fixed all our other problems!

[ElsewheresDaughter]

8. very crucile that we all read "Ismael" by Daniel Quinn..and

http://www.ishmael.com/welcome.cfm
click around especially on the things to read list...there you will find some very informative essays and info...and also furture down the page

i fear that at the rate we are going this planet will only be capable of sustaining life (any life) for 30 to 50 years. we are heading for catastrophe...self inflicted catastrophe

[ElsewheresDaughter]

26. that's "Ishmael" byDaniel Quinn...sorry..... but timed out for edit

[section321]

9. Strange thought...

I had this thought once...

What if the Earth does operate like a giant organism. In an organism there are all kinds of germs and bacteria. Some germs try to take over and their byproducts make the organism sick. The organism responds by , among other things, running a fever to help kill off the germs.

Are we the germs making the earth sick?


DISCLAIMER: This is just a random thought I had. I have no research/education to back it up.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

12. Agent Smith, is that you?

"I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague."

[Fozzledick]

34. Never mind the Matrix

Get ready for Soylent Green!:wow:

[Karenina]

16. Planet A and planet B's orbits

converge after millenia...

A: How ya doing?? It's been a L-O-N-G time!

B: Oh man, I got a severe case of Homo Sapiens...

A: Don't worry. They go away.

[NickB79]

19. Thats the Gaia hypothesis

There are a few scientists who have shared your same view, that the entire planet acts as one massive "super-organism", self-regulating itself to maintain life on its surface. Seems to be gaining more stregth as of late.

[section321]

23. I probably heard that someone and it stuck in my head....

At this point we, as a race, don't have the ability to come to a common understanding of an issue of this magnitude. Hell, we can't even decide if Lite Beer is less filling or tastes great.

It seems like we will continue to grow exponentially until something stops us. And, if you've ever looked at an exponential growth chart you know that can't go on forever. We'll run out of surface area, let alone resources.

bummer
:-(

[AmericaInWonderland]

22. If that's the case...

If its true we originated from a meteor or an asteroid or were brought to earth by aliens, would we be a STD?

[jus_the_facts]

30. EVERYONE should read....OUR ANGRY EARTH...by Isaac Asimov and....

....Fredrick Pohl....written after the Gulf War...it's one of THE BEST books about the enviornment......

Mother Earth is about to give herself an enema....to get our parasitic asses off her once and for all...and I can't blame her one bit :nuke:

[stickdog]

32. Gaia Theory.

All of earth's surface life are simply parasites.

The subsurface microbes that generate tectonic recycling and super-volcanoes can and will shrug us off with one supercooling blast.

[reprobate]

10. Will THIS be the time that the planet ......

....finally decides that humanity is a virus and turns on us for good?

[ConcernedCanuk]

13. Reality -there is one species on the Planet that endangers it's survival

YUP

You got it - that'd be us HOOMANS

Every other species will survive without us

WE HUMANS ARE THE THREAT TO THE WORLD

Especially if we let the BFEE and their like rule -


Just My Humble Canuk Opinion

[ElementaryPenguin]

14. That's it!! We can't afford to have anti-environment Repukes anymore!!

ANYWHERE!! We can have two parties bicker over taxes, and this and that - but NOT the fucking environment!! We're at a period of critical mass - where these environmental degradations will soon be irreversable!! WE CAN NO LONGER AFFORD THE LUXURY OF HAVING A POLITICAL PARTY WHO IS ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL!!! How the hell can the world's OXYGEN SUPPLY be a liberal or conservative issue?? FUCK that!! If these idiots can't get this throught their neanderthal skulls - we really have no choice but to dismantle their party!!! We foresaw a war for water coming down the pike - and now here's a war for oxygen!! God help us if we don't prevail over ignorance - and in short order!! TALK to everyone!! Enlighten them!! They are just watching TV - and are therefore no-nothings - and they are KILLING us all!!

[tom_paine]

17. Many civilizations have died from environmental collapse

In the past, of course, it was a local thing. I believe some tribes of the cliff-dwelling Native Americans perished this way. They used up all their resources, the land became unsuitable for farming, etc., and the civilation shattered.

We are the first to bring this previously local phenomena to the Global Stage.

The results should be interesting, to say the least, especially after 2100.

[Nottingham]

15. The Ozone hole was the Biggest ever this year

This planet is in big trouble! :bounce:

[hatrack]

18. Actually, it only tied the record - but there's worse news on that

Although the hole was "only" equal to its largest recorded extent, the zone of maximum depletion was much larger - two-thirds of the area of the hole.

(on edit) Oh, and btw - it's also sticking around longer than it has in the past. We now return to our regularly scheduled news programming - "Tiger Attack!", with Soledad O'Brien.

Du Environment Forum

[ozone_man]

24. I wonder if phytoplankton are being cooked by UV in Ozone hole.

What is the attenuation of UV by seawater? Would loss of Ozone cause a reduction in phytoplankton? I think if we lose phytoplankton, the ocean food cycle collapses, right?

[hatrack]

29. When the hole peaks, it's the beginning of Austral spring

As a result, there's not too much sun to directly affect the plankton in the Antarctic Ocean.

However, the overall thinning of the polar ozone - not just the dramatic seasonal drop in Sep-Oct - has been shown to change polar phytoplankton biomass - a drop of something like 40 - 50%. Plankton too close to the surface gets zapped, but plankton lower in the water column can't get all of the sunlight they could at the surface, and so can't grow as vigorously as normal.

Ironically, the big plankton crash this year in the Ross Sea was related to lack of sunlight. When the B-Series icebergs calved from the Ross Ice Shelf, their position in the Ross Sea blocked normal sea ice circulation. This meant that sea ice conditions were really dense over most of the area of the Ross Sea, producing something like a 90% drop in plankton biomass, at least in that portion of the Antarctic Ocean. Check the link below for more information.

DU Environment Forum

[fla nocount]

21. Gaya will right herself. No harm, no foul.

She'll just lessen the over-burden of parasites and give herself the room and resources to heal. She loves us but it's an impersonal sort of love. See ya.

[nolabels]

25. Life will survive but not some ot the crazy monkey species

I think we lost the ability to rebound 30 or 40 years ago. The multiplications that are twisting with population growth, environmental degradation and technological innovations in spite of nature probably have already doomed us, in my estimation.

Just sit back and enjoy the ride (they say), there should be plenty of (appalling) entertainment along the way (my take).

I was an optimist at one time, till I realized that many people are much more like * than a lot of people you find on DU.

Living in denial is a sickness, but that is how the capitalist system works.

[fla nocount]

27. Us monkeys were the parasites I spoke of.

Lessen the demand by 90% and Mother has plenty of rebound in her step. Being impersonal, that is what will happen simply because the universe demands it. We seem to have forgotten as a Jungian collective that a successful parasite never kills it's host. I like the virus analogy by the above poster as virus's don't seem to know this either. Some of us will make it I'm sure but it will be like playing craps as to who or whom.

[opihimoimoi]

31. We Humans know not we do. Can't even manage a Planet properly much less

a Nation.

We are not of the Mature level to be allowed out of our Solar System. We are canceresque. We are killing the one Cell we live on, Earth.

[reprobate]

33. I believe it's not humanity itself that's causing this.

Humanity is just a really big herd of sheep that will follow it's leaders. The problem is that humanity's leaders follow the capitalist system which promotes the profit of the individual over the welfare of the group.

Capitalism is a zero sum game. In order for me to win, you must lose. That's no way to assure the survival of the species, tho it will assure the survival of a few really rich white guys for a while.

Some of us wiil survive the coming environmental holocaust, not many, but some, and perhaps they will be able to restart humanity on a safe and sane road to progress. If not, WE will be the dynosaurs.

[tlcandie]

35. If you've watched the documentaries on the coral reefs that are

disappearing by the hordes at a fast pace, there is no doubt that it is only a SHORT matter of time.

I guess this is why (for me) there is an urgency to see someone who is not centrist, but who will step in, stop the clock and take a RADICAL approach to the way we live. We have to be an example to help stop this madness.

When is the point of no return? Aren't we standing on the edge of that precipice NOW?

EDIT: IMO there's a LOT more than just politics and parties at stake here.

[reprobate]

38. When is the point of no return?

I think it won't be long now. With the artic ice sheets calving at a record rate, there's an extraordinary amount of fresh water being added to the northern atlantic. This will have the effect of turning off the atlantic current conveyor, of which the gulf stream is an important part.

The atlantic conveyor is the current that is responsible for warming the northern portions of both the european and north american continents. Without it, the moderation of climate that we experienced as a species, and allowed us to evolve will be gone. The northern lats will see a new ice age, and the now moderate lats will bake, since there will no longer be the circulation that moves the hot water of the tropics north and the cold water of the north to the tropics.

I understand that the latest thoughts on this is that it won't be gradual change, but there will be a threshold effect and the current won't just diminish gradually, it will be like turning off a switch. If this is true, we won't have the time to make changes to avoid it.

I think our grandchildren will not know a 'civilized' society like we do. They will live a subsistance life, those that are left, and it will not be pleasant in any way.

[jus_the_facts]

37. heh...seems that's the attitude most must have..fuck it all....

....my comfort is much more important in the present....let's just let the future take care of itself...goddammit this kind of thinking makes me angrier than anything else in the entire world....THESE ISSUES ARE THE *ONLY* THING THAT MATTERS....but instead let's bicker and argue over trivial bullshit...blah! :puke:

[jus_the_facts]

36. THAT's the sad truth Opi.....

.....it's slipping completely away and nowhere near enough outcry over any of it...NOWHERE NEAR ENOUGH....afraid it's too late now....it's only a matter of time....not IF..but WHEN exactly will we be be extracated from the equasion of life on earth x(

[nolabels]

39. Frankly I do not consider Humans parasites or virusus

I had once considered us a revolution or a seed by Mother Nature to span more complex life forms to other places, she seems to have missed her mark this time around. We did evolve enough, the lizard brain had too much effect on behavior. The cooperation / intellect part did not take a strong enough hold. If one studies successful types of communalities of all types of different life forms one will notice how even though some are in conflict, both sides in the duality eventually benefit in some way. That we do not do that too well between us or with the rest of the planet. For that I call us the Crazy Monkeys. There is no other place to live, what you have under your feet is it. A lot of the Natives that lived in the new world were on a kind of even keel till Columbus came along, but that is just more history. We all have seemed to have all screwed ourselves now

The big joke on Old world thought is man came into the world from an act of a deity, but in the thinking from peoples of this new world (that was also invaded) is that we are from the earth and will turn back to it at least in substance when it's over. The real deity is what we are living on and what we will turn back into when it’s over

[seasat]

40. Interesting paper I read years ago predicted this...

I posted this in the environmental forum but I thought y'all might like to hear about it. I read a paper in the early 90's that presented a model of ocean circulation slowing as a result of global warming. The slowing resulted from such occurences as the capping of the downwelling zones near Greenland by increased freshwater runoff. The result was lower upwelling of nutrient rich water and lower phytoplankton growth. I recently read a paper that presents evidence that ocean circulation has slowed and now this one.

In addition to circulation and temperature, I imagine the shift in pH from the higher CO2 dissolved in the ocean will also affect phytoplankton. Its scary times we live in.

Take Care,

Jim

[reprobate]

42. seasat, great minds think alike. See my post four lines up

Seems like the problems are seeing more circulation now. Soon maybe enough will know of this to tell the sheeple just why they will no longer be the dominant species.

[seasat]

43. It's a scary experiment we're preforming on the earth.

I should have linked to your post. When I first read that paper in '93, I thought it was plausible but unlikely. Now it looks like that modeler may have been prophetic.

The main point of his paper was the resulting decline in primary production would result in lower sequestering of carbon and therefore increase the greenhouse effect. Phytoplankton represent the first step in deep ocean burial of carbon. (Here's my favorite graphic of the global carbon cycle.)



If the ocean are dying, then we won't be long behind it. Reminds me of the movie "Soylent Green". :scared:

[hatrack]

44. Or, as Bill McKibben said:

"It's an experiment of sorts we're performing, but a cloddish one, like pouring poison into an ant farm and 'observing the effects.'"

[Rex]

41. Bush says it's all a myth...

Just wait til we lose the ozone layer that keeps us from becoming microwaved pizzas! I personally think that if humans cannot control their hunger for profit, then we deserve to lose the title of "smartest critter" and become "cooked critter".