Arctic Blooms Occurring Earlier: Phytoplankton Peak Arising 50 Days Early

[n2doc]

ScienceDaily (Mar. 3, 2011) — Phytoplankton peak arising up to 50 days early, with unknown impacts on marine food chain and carbon cycling

Warming temperatures and melting ice in the Arctic may be behind a progressively earlier bloom of a crucial annual marine event, and the shift could hold consequences for the entire food chain and carbon cycling in the region.

Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, along with colleagues in Portugal and Mexico, plotted the yearly spring bloom of phytoplankton -- tiny plants at the base of the ocean food chain -- in the Arctic Ocean and found the peak timing of the event has been progressing earlier each year for more than a decade. The researchers analyzed satellite data depicting ocean color and phytoplankton production to determine that the spring bloom has come up to 50 days earlier in some areas in that time span.

The earlier Arctic blooms have roughly occurred in areas where ice concentrations have dwindled and created gaps that make early blooms possible, say the researchers, who publish their findings in the March 9 edition of the journal Global Change Biology.


Significant trends toward earlier phytoplankton blooms (blue) were detected in about 11 percent of the area of the Arctic Ocean closest to the North Pole, delayed blooms (red) were evident to the south. (Credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego)

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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110302171320.htm

[Zoeisright]

1. Evidence piled on top of evidence piled on top of facts.

Climate change deniers are looking more stupid by the second.