Tiny plankton: The ocean's hidden climate fighters

DW (English)

A new study says calcifying plankton's ability to help the ocean store carbon is overlooked in climate models. That matters because the ocean already absorbs about 30% of our carbon emissions, and might store even more. DW takes you for a quick look.

Transcript

00:00They're smaller than a grain of sand, yet these tiny ocean creatures help keep our planet's climate in balance.

00:10They are tiny, but they are really abundant.

00:13And through their classification and production of calcium carbonate,

00:18and eventually the solutions of the calcium carbonate, they regulate the chemistry of the ocean.

00:24These microorganisms build shells from the same material as chalk.

00:30As they grow and die, they take in carbon, and some of it sinks to the ocean floor,

00:37helping to keep carbon out of the atmosphere.

00:41We are pumping a huge amount of anthropogenic carbon to the atmosphere,

00:46and this is altering, of course, the climate system.

00:50We know that about 30% of this carbon that we are emitting is actually sequestered by the ocean.

00:57A new study from the University of Barcelona says climate models often overlook tiny plankton

01:03that helps store carbon in the ocean.

01:06Instead of sinking to the seabed, much of the carbon in their shells dissolves near the surface

01:12due to predators, microbes, and ocean acidity.

01:16This means the ocean's role in fighting climate change might be bigger than we thought.

01:23So it's really fundamental to understand what is the future of these organisms

01:28as one of the factors, of course, that they contribute to the sequestration of carbon

01:33to better then plan what we need to do in the future.

01:37By tracking how much shell material plankton make, lose, and send to the ocean floor,

01:44scientists could make a better prediction of how the ocean stores carbon,

01:49and how that might change as the planet warms.

01:53And this knowledge could help us protect the ocean's natural ability to fight climate change.

01:59within the future of this area...

02:07freaking out...

02:08Instead of just some people, we've got pensa-as-as-c methylp intervenes...

02:11That may be more水IVE given by the way with means that it didn't mean that it is the skyline comportment

02:13of weatherζ diabetic method in the sea or that it seems like a size protective layer.

02:15That is to 3 different than it doesn't mean that it's a tester.

02:18So it is a bit more czasu, and that's not how it looks.

02:20That doesn't remember that it's perfect for yourself, no while we are putting .

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended