WEBVTT FILE

1
00:00:00.020 --> 00:00:04.000
Oceans in the Northern Hemisphere have become a little less

2
00:00:04.020 --> 00:00:08.020
crowded. A new study led by NASA researchers has found

3
00:00:08.040 --> 00:00:12.090
populations of the microscopic marine plants, phytoplankton, have

4
00:00:12.110 --> 00:00:16.150
decreased in recent years. Individual phytoplankton are

5
00:00:16.170 --> 00:00:20.200
invisible to the human eye but they can be detected from space by looking at the

6
00:00:20.220 --> 00:00:24.230
color of the oceans. Using a NASA model in combination with

7
00:00:24.250 --> 00:00:28.260
ocean satellite data, scientists observed in the Northern Hemisphere

8
00:00:28.280 --> 00:00:32.310
a one percent decrease of phytoplankton per year between

9
00:00:32.330 --> 00:00:36.360
1998 and 2012. Phytoplankton

10
00:00:36.380 --> 00:00:40.650
are the first level of the food chain. So they feed fish but also

11
00:00:40.670 --> 00:00:44.760
larger mammals including whales. Plus phytoplankton are just like trees,

12
00:00:44.780 --> 00:00:48.760
absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen. So

13
00:00:48.780 --> 00:00:52.770
there is a constant exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere of gas.

14
00:00:52.790 --> 00:00:56.850
In fact, the ocean absorbs about 25% of the carbon

15
00:00:56.870 --> 00:01:01.000
dioxide that is emitted by humans. We don't know whether the decrease

16
00:01:01.020 --> 00:01:05.180
will keep on going but what we know is that this decrease could

17
00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:09.260
likely have an effect on carbon dioxide in the

18
00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:13.320
atmosphere and the food chain.

19
00:01:13.340 --> 00:01:13.353