Biogeochemical impacts Climate change As with all phytoplankton, primary production of E. huxleyi through photosynthesis is a sink of carbon dioxide. However, the production of coccoliths through calcification is a source of CO2. This means that coccolithophores, including E. huxleyi, have the potential to act as a net source of CO2 out of the ocean. Whether they are a net source or sink and how they will react to ocean acidification is not yet well understood. Ocean heat retention Scattering stimulated by E. huxleyi blooms not only causes more heat and light to be pushed back up into the atmosphere than usual, but also cause more of the remaining heat to be trapped closer to the ocean surface. This is problematic because it is the surface water that exchanges heat with the atmosphere, and E. huxleyi blooms may tend to make the overall temperature of the water column dramatically cooler over longer time periods. However, the importance of this effect, whether positive or negative, is currently being researched and has not yet been established. Gallery See also CLAW hypothesis Dimethylsulfoniopropionate Emiliania huxleyi virus 86, a marine virus that infects E. huxleyi Notes References External links Cocco Express - Coccolithophorids Expressed Sequence Tags (EST) & Microarray Database Nannotax a guide to the biodiversity and taxonomy of coccolithophores: Emiliania huxleyi Haptophyte species