Phytoplankton Levels Dropping

  • Released Thursday, September 11, 2014
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New research led by NASA researchers has found populations of the microscopic marine plants, phytoplankton, have decreased in the Northern Hemisphere. An analysis using a NASA model in combination with ocean satellite data between 1998 and 2012, showed a 1% decrease of phytoplankton per year.

Research: Decadal Trends in Global Pelagic Ocean Chlorophyll: A New Assessment Combining Multiple Satellites, In Situ Data and Models
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
Link to paper: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014JC010158/pdf

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Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

This page was originally published on Thursday, September 11, 2014.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:50 PM EDT.

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This visualization originally appeared on the following tapes:
  • Decline in phytoplankton in the Northern Hemisphere (ID: 2014084)
    Thursday, September 11, 2014 at 4:00AM
    Produced by - Liam Krauss (Hughes STX)