Phytoplankton Decline

  • Released Tuesday, September 8, 2015
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Diatom Concentration, Equirectangular Projection

The world's oceans have seen significant declines in certain types of microscopic plant-life at the base of the marine food chain, according to a new NASA study. The research is the first to look at global, long-term phytoplankton community trends based on a model driven by NASA satellite data.

Diatoms, the largest type of phytoplankton algae, have declined more than 1 percent per year from 1998 to 2012 globally, with significant losses occurring in the North Pacific, North Indian and Equatorial Indian oceans. The reduction in population may have an impact on the amount of carbon dioxide drawn out of the atmosphere and transferred to the deep ocean for long-term storage.

Diatom Concentration, Robinson Projection

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Data provided by Cecile Rousseaux

This page was originally published on Tuesday, September 8, 2015.
This page was last updated on Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at 12:06 AM EST.