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Plankton of the Black Sea rids the Earth of carbon

19.08.2012

Scientists from the Center for Space Flights. Goddard, NASA found that the Black Sea actively absorbs carbon from the atmosphere. The researchers came to this conclusion by examining images from NASA's Aqua satellite on July 15, 2012. As it turned out, colonies of microscopic phytoplankton are scattered over the surface of the Black Sea, most likely unicellular 30-micron coccolithophorid algae, which are a real "pump" pumping carbon out of the atmosphere.

In the course of their life, coccolithophores absorb carbon and turn it into tiny plates of calcium carbonate (coccoliths). After the death of the phytoplankton, this limestone sinks to the bottom and buries the carbon forever. This natural process helps the Earth get rid of excess CO2, and the Black Sea is one such reservoir of greenhouse gas. Thanks to phytoplankton, the sea is able to recycle large amounts of carbon dioxide that would otherwise remain in the atmosphere, causing a greenhouse effect.

However, the natural process may not be able to cope with the activities of our civilization. Scientists are concerned about increasing ocean acidification, which could disrupt natural biological processes. Excess carbon dioxide makes the ocean more acidic, and at certain concentrations of carbon, coccolithophores simply cannot continue their useful work, since the process of carbon calcification will greatly slow down.

Scientists are trying to understand how ocean acidification can disrupt the biological "pump" and cause the subsequent avalanche acidification of oceans and seas, including the Black Sea, which is popular with tourists.

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