Tagged: phytoplankton

Inside the world of tiny phytoplankton – microscopic algae that provide most of our oxygen - Guest Work

Guest Author • Apr 30, 2021 •

• climate change,
• marine life,
• oxygen,
• phytoplankton

Abigail McQuatters-Gollop, University of Plymouth Phytoplankton are microscopic algae living throughout the ocean’s surface waters. They can’t swim and are at the mercy of the currents and tides. Despite their small size, phytoplankton enable life in the oceans – and throughout the planet – to exist. There are two types of plankton – zooplankton, which are animals, and phytoplankton, which … Read More

Volcanoes under the ice: melting Antarctic ice could fight climate change - Guest Work

Guest Author • Jun 16, 2017 •

• Antarctica,
• iron,
• phytoplankton,
• Southern Ocean,
• Volcanoes

By Silvia Frisia, University of Newcastle  Iron is not commonly famous for its role as a micronutrient for tiny organisms dwelling in the cold waters of polar oceans. But iron feeds plankton, which in turn hold carbon dioxide in their bodies. When they die, the creatures sink to the bottom of the sea, safely storing that carbon. How exactly … Read More

Oceanographers win PM’s science prize for climate work - Hot Topic

Gareth Renowden • Dec 16, 2011 •

• Climate Science,
• geoengineering,
• Keith Hunter,
• NIWA,
• ocean,
• Otago University,
• phytoplankton

This year’s NZ Prime Minister’s Science Prize — worth $500,000 — has been awarded to a team of scientists working on climate-related issues at the joint Otago University and National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) Centre for Chemical & Physical Oceanography. The team carried out ground-breaking research on using iron to fertilise phytoplankton [...] … Read More

No Penguin Café when the ice melts - Hot Topic

Bryan Walker • Jun 30, 2011 •

• Antarctica,
• arctic,
• Climate Science,
• ecosystems,
• penguins,
• phytoplankton,
• sea ice

At Yale Environment 360 Fen Montaigne provides a fascinating, if disturbing, report on the findings of scientists working on the effects of sea ice retreat on the polar marine food chain. Montaigne is the author of the book Fraser’s Penguins which I reviewed earlier this year and of an earlier article at Yale Environment about [...] … Read More

On the subject of phytoplankton - misc.ience

Aimee Whitcroft • May 05, 2011 •

• diatom,
• phytoplankton,
• poetry,
• Ralph Lewin,
• The Fertile Sea

Discovered this morning in a beautiful old book 🙂 Diatoms have lacy cases Of material silicaceous, Perforated lids and bases Made to fit like Petri dishes. Nursed on Nature’s hydroponic They’re prolific and nutritious Making bouillabase planktonic For the sustenance of fishes. – Ralph Lewin Taken from ‘The Fertile Sea’, by … Read More

ANZICE Part 3: Southern Ocean – New Zealand Responses - Journeys to the ice

Matthew Wood • Jun 05, 2010 •

• ANZICE,
• insolation,
• ocean temperature,
• phytoplankton,
• pollen,
• sediment

New Zealand is a geographically lonely place. It is the only major landmass between the tropics and Antarctica at these longitudes, and shares the southern mid-latitudes with only Patagonia and Tasmania. As such, it is a fantastic natural laboratory for investigating oceanic and atmospheric change in the southern hemisphere. Our country is perpetually being ground down … Read More