NASA satellites show that more than half of Earth’s oceans are turning green as climate change disrupts marine ecosystems.
Strange changes in the ocean’s color have prompted investigations from scientists.
Over the past 20 years, 56 percent of the world’s oceans have changed from blue to green, according to satellite data. Changes are particularly visible in tropical regions near the equator.
Researchers say this subtle greening of our oceans points to the effect climate change is having on life beneath the water.
Why does the ocean turn green?
More than half of NASA’s MODIS-AQUA satellite gradually transitioned from blue to green. Oceans of the World. The discolored area is more than the entire land area of the Earth.
BP Gale and his colleagues at the National Oceanographic Center in Southampton, England, analyzed the NASA data and believed that the green color was a sign. Ecosystems change Due to climate change.
What these changes are and the exact cause is not confirmed, but BP Gale says it is likely linked to organisms at the bottom of most food chains – phytoplankton. These organisms also play an important role in producing bulk Oxygen We breathe and stabilize our atmosphere.
„The effects of climate change are already being felt on surface marine microbial ecosystems,” the study notes.
Oceans that change color can indicate a bigger problem
A Change in color According to the authors of the study, the ocean will reflect a change in the state of its ecosystems. Darker blue indicates less life, while greener hues indicate greater activity of phytoplankton.
It paints a picture of what is happening in the surface layers of water.
But color the sea Surface chlorophyll levels can vary greatly from year to year. It is difficult to distinguish whether the shift from blue to green is caused by climate change.
Scientists They thought it could take up to 40 years of monitoring ocean color before they detected any trends. Different satellites also measure color changes in different ways. This means that data from each often cannot be combined.
A NASA mission called BASE is slated to launch in January 2024 to delve deeper into the changing colors of the ocean. It monitors plankton, aerosol, clouds and marine ecosystems.