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Originally Posted by Robbie
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All that says is the tiny plankton consumes more C02 than previously thought, not that its going to balance the planet of excess C02. The article also plainly admits the oceans are warming.
The bigger issue with that is though, as these tiny planktons use more C02 they multiply faster and take up the food source of larger plankton which causes a host of even worse problems....
"If the tiny plankton blooms, it consumes the nutrients that are normally also available to larger plankton species," explains Ulf Riebesell, a professor of biological oceanography at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel in Germany and head of the experimental team. This could mean the larger plankton run short of food.
Large plankton play an important role in carbon export to the deep ocean, but in a system dominated by the so-called pico- and nanoplankton, less carbon is transported out of surface waters. "This may cause the oceans to absorb less CO2 in the future," says Riebesell.
The potential imbalance in the plankton food web may have an even bigger climate impact. Large plankton are also important producers of a climate-cooling gas called dimethyl sulphide, which stimulates cloud-formation over the oceans. Less dimethyl sulphide means more sunlight reaches Earth's surface, adding to the greenhouse effect. "These important services of the ocean may thus be significantly affected by acidification."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0913085756.htm