Climate change is changing the colors of the oceans, study finds

According to a study published in the scientific journal Nature, Climate change caused by humanity is responsible for a significant change in marine ecosystems, causing a change in the color of the world’s oceans. The scientists obtained the results with data collected by satellites over decades.

Aqua was one of the satellites used during the research after collecting nearly 20 years of ocean data. The study, led by researchers from the National Oceanographic Center in the United Kingdom and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States, Color changes occurred that could not be explained by natural changes on the planet, possibly due to climate change.

Scientists explain that the color represents life in the ocean, for example: blue water contains very little life; greener water reflects the presence of ecosystems such as phytoplankton. As the study highlights, Color change has been observed in 56% of all oceans on the planet.

“I’ve been running simulations for years that tell me that these ocean color changes are going to happen. It’s not surprising to see that really happening, it’s scary. “These changes are consistent with human-induced changes in our climate,” said Stephanie Dutkiewicz, one of the study’s authors.

Color change in the ocean

The upper layer of the ocean is the region that absorbs the most carbon dioxide in the air, as it is in direct contact with the atmosphere and has a depth of only 100 meters. Green water reflects marine environments with more life and phytoplankton presencetiny microbes that produce a green pigment chlorophyll.

What is phytoplankton?

Phytoplankton forms part of the base of the aquatic food chain, feeding from microscopic animals to shellfish, which are the basis of food for larger fish. After all, man eats fish.

The scientists analyzed data collected in the oceans between 2002 and 2022 and Changes observed in up to seven colors in these 20 years. For example, they found that tropical oceans around the equator became much greener.

“This suggests that the trends we observe are not random changes in the Earth system. This is consistent with anthropogenic climate change. This provides additional evidence of how human activities are affecting life on Earth on an enormous spatial scale,” he said.

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