NASA satellite data capture a big climate effect on tiny ...( Turns out that the old clich it's the...)

Turns out that the old clich, "it's the little things that make a difference," is especially true when it comes to our atmosphere and oceans. Tiny ocean plants, or phytoplankton, help regulate the Earth's climate by accounting for about half of the carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, absorbed annually from the atmosphere by plants. But, these organisms are also the base of the marine food web, responsible for most of the biological activity in the ocean. Microscopic animals called zooplankton, eat the phytoplankton and are in turn eaten by other larger animals. So, any change in phytoplankton numbers alters the ocean food chain.

Now, new research shows these marine plants may have an even greater impact on the health of our oceans and climate than previously thought. In a study published in the January 2005 issue of Geophysical Research Letters, Wendy Wang and colleagues at the University of Maryland, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC), College Park, Md., found that phytoplankton population and size can change dramatically due to the physical processes associated with the climate phenomena known as El Nio and La Nia. In turn, these changes not only affect ocean ecology, but also influence our climate by impacting carbon storage in the ocean.

During an El Nio year, warm waters from the Western Pacific Ocean spread out over much of the basin as upwelling subsides in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Upwelling brings cool, nutrient-rich water from the deep ocean up to the surface. So, when upwelling weakens, phytoplankton do not get enough nutrients to maintain their growth. As a result, surface waters turn into "marine deserts" with unusually low populations of phytoplankton and other tiny organisms. With less food, fish cannot survive in the surface water, which then also deprives seabirds of food.

During La Nia conditions, the opposite effect occurs as the easterly trade winds pick up and upwelling intensifies, bringing nutr
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Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.J.Gutro.1@gsfc.nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
23-Jun-2005

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