Plankton, the base of the ocean's food web, steadily declining

[Newsjock]

Source: The Globe and Mail

The foundation of the marine food web is being threatened as a new Canadian study reveals that phytoplankton – tiny microscopic organisms – have been steadily declining over the past six decades.

For the first time using both historical records and recent oceanographic data, a team from Dalhousie University found phytoplankton declines of about 1 per cent of the global average every year, and about 40 per cent since 1950. The study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, involved a three-year analysis.

“This is a definite wake-up call that our oceans are becoming increasingly stressed and this is another indicator of that,” said lead author Daniel Boyce, a marine ecologist and doctoral student at Dalhousie. “It’s quite shocking to think that there’s been a 40 per cent decline at the base of the food chain over the past 50 years. I think it’s absolutely cause for concern.”

Phytoplankton form the basis of the marine food chain, feeding everything from tiny zooplankton to large mammals and fish. Their decline could affect everything, and eventually impact humans.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/plankton-the-base-of-the-oceans-food-web-steadily-declining/article1654702/

[xchrom]

1. Not good. Not good at all. Nt

[Zorra]

2. Earth First!

We'll kill the other planets later.

[slackmaster]

3. ...and Soylent Green is people.

[caraher]

4. It doesn't get scarier than this...

we literally do not know what we are doing to our ability to survive

[jpak]

5. but...but...but... there is no such thing as global warming

the stolen emails prove that!

:rofl:

[Ross K]

10. And Canada is a s-s-Socialist country!

:cry:

[wordpix]

15. and no such thing as overfishing, or frequent oil drilling mishaps

[Amonester]

6. Charles Moore - the Great Pacific plastic trash island

NL video on the Pacific garbage plastic patch :cry: :mad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en4XzfR0FE8

:grr:

[Crop Circle]

7. Most of our oxygen comes from...

ocean phytoplankton, even more than from the tropical rainforests. I don't have a citation for this, but I'm quite sure I've read it repeatedly.

Very concerning...

[mike_c]

8. that is serious....

Wow.

[PSPS]

9. Plankton is also responsible for the majority of oxygen in the atmosphere

Plankton produce more oxygen than all the trees and other vegetation in the world. Without oxygen ... well, goodbye!

[Ross K]

11. The bees are going as well

But hey, American Idol's on!

[wordpix]

16. isn't it sad?

:cry:

[Chemical Bill]

12. I'm sure that it won't be a steady decline now, more of a plunge. n/t

[Octafish]

13. Responsible for half the world's Oxygen.

I'm certain people who can afford it
will be able to pay for what they need
and the lesser orders will have to make do.
What do they think this is, a democracy?

[harvey007]

14. We must stop this now

:scared:

[wordpix]

17. yeah...if we could stop global warmng, pollution, oil spills, overfishing...

:scared:

[kpete]

18. The dead sea: Global warming blamed for 40 per cent decline in the ocean's phytoplankton

Source: Independent UK

The dead sea: Global warming blamed for 40 per cent decline in the ocean's phytoplankton

Microscopic life crucial to the marine food chain is dying out. The consequences could be catastrophic

By Steve Connor, Science Editor

Thursday, 29 July 2010

The microscopic plants that support all life in the oceans are dying off at a dramatic rate, according to a study that has documented for the first time a disturbing and unprecedented change at the base of the marine food web.

Scientists have discovered that the phytoplankton of the oceans has declined by about 40 per cent over the past century, with much of the loss occurring since the 1950s. They believe the change is linked with rising sea temperatures and global warming.

If the findings are confirmed by further studies it will represent the single biggest change to the global biosphere in modern times, even bigger than the destruction of the tropical rainforests and coral reefs, the scientists said yesterday.

"If this holds up, something really serious is underway and has been underway for decades. I've been trying to think of a biological change that's bigger than this and I can't think of one," said marine biologist Boris Worm of Canada's Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He said: "If real, it means that the marine ecosystem today looks very different to what it was a few decades ago and a lot of this change is happening way out in the open, blue ocean where we cannot see it. I'm concerned about this finding."

Read more: 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

[Bette Noir]

19. I like oxygen. I'll miss it, when it's gone.

[Downwinder]

20. Better start stockpiling Coca leaves for O2 depletion.

[Exultant Democracy]

21. I guess we have no reason to complain about over fishing for a while

if we had not killed off most of the fish they would just be starving to death anyways. No matter I'll maintain my personal prohibition.

[catzies]

22. When my dad worked for NOAA he kept track of this too. There are two types

of plankton - phytoplankton is plant-like and zooplankton is animal-like.