The amount of plankton that sinks to the deep ocean, taking carbon dioxide with it, has been decreasing due to global warming, according to MIT scientists. The researchers estimate that the amount of carbon stored in the deep ocean has fallen by 1.5% over annual, reducing the oceans’ ability to act as a sponge removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. This decline means that approximately 100 million tons of additional plankton have stayed close to the surface of the seas each year, preventing carbon equivalent to the UK’s the past 30 years emissions output from sinking.
The amount of plankton that sinks to the deep ocean, taking carbon dioxide with it, has been decreasing due to global warming, according to MIT scientists. The researchers estimate that the amount of carbon stored in the deep ocean has fallen by 1.5% over the past 30 years, reducing the oceans’ ability to act as a sponge removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. This decline means that approximately 100 million tons of additional plankton have stayed close to the surface of the seas each year, preventing carbon equivalent to the UK’s annual emissions output from sinking.