 Adding nutrients to areas of the ocean that lack phytoplankton is one way of reversing the effects of global warming explored by a new BBC TV documentary, Five Ways To Save The World.
Our oceans are teeming with phytoplankton: millions of microscopic plants beneath the waves that are vital to the marine ecosystem because they form the base of the marine food chain.
Phytoplankton are not visible to the naked eye but from space, satellite images show that phytoplankton form enormous green swirls hundreds of kilometres long around coastal waters.
They employ photosynthesis, using sunlight and carbon dioxide (CO2) from sea water, to sustain themselves.
"Just like trees, they can take carbon dioxide and give us back oxygen," says Professor Ian Jones, an ocean engineer from the University of Sydney, Australia.
When the plankton die, they sink deep to the ocean floor, taking the carbon with them.
Labels: carbon neutral, environment |
