Key Points:
- Phytoplankton have can help counter global warming's effect.
- Phytoplankton inhabit 3/4's of the earth's surface
- Phytoplankton have the ability to draw carbon dioxide into the deep side of the ocean
- Cycle of carbon is dependent on photosynthetic organisms to convert Co2 to become more organic.
- Conversion of Co2 to organic matter is called primary production
- Fossil fuels are accelerating production of Co2 fast making photosynthesizing harder.
- Phytoplankton use nitrogen fixation to make nutrients
- Too much primary production can harm many other organisms.
Summary:
Sometimes there is a limit to how much something can handle a problem. Phytoplankton are like the plants of the ocean. They clean up our air just like plants do. It's their job. Using primary production, they are able to convert carbon dioxide into a more organic state. Because of the increase of carbon dioxide from our us, phytoplankton aren't able to convert fast enough. Even as they inhabit 3/4th's of the earth's surface, our increasing emission of Co2 is too much for them to handle. The cycle of carbon relies heavily on these photosynthetic organisms. If the phytoplankton are too busy, then the left over Co2 that aren't absorbed, are just floating around heating the earth. But there is a way to sort of fix the problem. That is to increase the amount of iron in the ocean. This will help feed the phytoplankton nutrients and help them fixate nitrogen faster.
My Thoughts on This Topic:
I believe phytoplanktons could be a big step towards the fix of global warming. Using what we know about them, we can help them fixate nitrogen faster. This will not only benefit them, but it will greatly benefit us. Creating cleaner air would provide a clean environment for the animals and our population. This will then probably trigger a chain of very positive events as global warming will be less of a problem and habitats would be less threatened.
So What?Being able to help our the phytoplankton will create safer environments as the atmosphere will be much cleaner from carbon dioxide.
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Says Who?Says Paul G. Falkowski and many marine scientists
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What If?What if the phytoplankton were to not get treated? What would happen as time moves on?
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What Does This Remind Me Of?This reminds me of the current lab that we are currently executing.
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