The ocean makes up about 70 percent of the Earth’s surface. By reviewing more than 20 years of satellite images of Earth, scientists have noticed that the deep blue sea is getting greener with time.
Signs of change
– We care if not because the sea color is so sexy. We care, because color is a marker of changes in an ecosystem, says B.B. Kyle, a researcher at the University of Southampton’s National Oceanography Center. Watchman.
Kyle is also one of the researchers who notices the sea changing colour. He and his research team have been looking for patterns and changes in the shadows of the sea.
Plankton of different sizes scatter and absorb light differently. By looking at the changes, one can form a clearer picture of changes in plankton numbers around the world, he writes Watchman.
Changes in large portions
Plankton are essential to the ocean and ecosystem, both for photosynthesis and for providing food for marine life.
– We’ve seen big color changes over large parts of the sea, Kyle says.
According to the researcher, they have seen changes in 56 percent of the world’s oceans. It makes up an area larger than all land regions on Earth.
Most areas are greener.
– But there are also some people who are getting bluer, says Kyle.
The researchers want to know more about how these changes occur.
– This gives us further evidence that human activity may be affecting the biosphere, in a way we weren’t able to fully understand before.
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