Global Plankton Blooms

Over half of the oxygen that we breathe is produced by single-celled plankton that live in the ocean. Using the SeaWifs satellite we can see how the concentration of phytoplankton change over the year. In this animation, blues are low concentrations, reds are high concentrations of chlorophyll (the pigment used by phytoplankton to go through photosynthesis and produce oxygen). Notice how the concentrations fluctuate over the course of the year...especially in the poles, where there are up to 4 months without sunlight. This data can also be used to identify harmful algal blooms.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• NOAA
• plankton
• algal
• blooms
• oceanography
• phycology
• chlorophyll
• satellite
• Environmental
• Visualization
• Lab

[karenl1234]

this si showing red tides not plankton we need although algea blooms are result of lack of oxygen and algea has been used in producing solar energy!

[nurlyify]

@CONTRAHABS i dont know exactly, but i do know that planktons are on the bottom of the food chain; and if they become extinct animals that are above them will suffer or even also become extinct!!!

[CONTRAHABS]

Is it true that we are running out of plankton and that if all the plankton would die we would die?