[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM5lX9RQzZ4[/youtube]
Watch: a Youtube Video, published September 23rd, 2015 by: NASA
Excerpts;
The world’s oceans have seen significant declines in certain types of microscopic plant-life at the base of the marine food chain, according to a new NASA study. The research is the first to look at global, long-term phytoplankton community trends based on a model driven by NASA satellite data.
Diatoms, the largest type of phytoplankton algae, have declined more than 1 percent per year from 1998 to 2012 globally, with significant losses occurring in the North Pacific, North Indian and Equatorial Indian oceans. The reduction in population may have an impact on the amount of carbon dioxide drawn out of the atmosphere and transferred to the deep ocean for long-term storage.
Assorted diatoms -one of the most common types of phytoplankton- living between crystals of annual sea ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Image digitized from original 35mm Ektachrome slide. Photo source: NSF Polar Programs / NOAA
