

The dead sea: 40 per cent decline in the ocean's phytoplankton last century - DaniFong
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/the-dead-sea-global-warming-blamed-for-40-per-cent-decline-in-the-oceans-phytoplankton-2038074.html

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DaniFong
I hope very much that this is an overestimate -- otherwise, I am very, very
concerned that we are going to switch to an Earth with a dead sea, atmosphere
and climate controlled by land biota, as it has been in other hot cycles.

Nature Article:

Global phytoplankton decline over the past century

[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v466/n7306/abs/nature09...](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v466/n7306/abs/nature09268.html)

Biology Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H
4J1 Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia,
Canada, B3H 4J1 Correspondence to: Daniel G. Boyce1 Email: dboyce@dal.ca

Abstract In the oceans, ubiquitous microscopic phototrophs (phytoplankton)
account for approximately half the production of organic matter on Earth.
Analyses of satellite-derived phytoplankton concentration (available since
1979) have suggested decadal-scale fluctuations linked to climate forcing, but
the length of this record is insufficient to resolve longer-term trends. Here
we combine available ocean transparency measurements and in situ chlorophyll
observations to estimate the time dependence of phytoplankton biomass at
local, regional and global scales since 1899. We observe declines in eight out
of ten ocean regions, and estimate a global rate of decline of ~1% of the
global median per year. Our analyses further reveal interannual to decadal
phytoplankton fluctuations superimposed on long-term trends. These
fluctuations are strongly correlated with basin-scale climate indices, whereas
long-term declining trends are related to increasing sea surface temperatures.
We conclude that global phytoplankton concentration has declined over the past
century; this decline will need to be considered in future studies of marine
ecosystems, geochemical cycling, ocean circulation and fisheries.

