Posted by feww on August 17, 2010
Dispersants may have forced crude to the ocean floor: Report
The largest environmental disaster in American history will get larger still
University of South Florida researchers believe that crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill may have settled to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico at levels toxic to marine life and further east than previously thought.
“The dispersant is moving the oil down out of the surface and into the deeper waters, where it can affect phytoplankton and other marine life,” said John Paul, a marine microbiologist at USF, CNN reported.
I’m a hypocrite and a liar? Tell the phytoplankton to sue me!
President B.O. and daughter Sasha swim at Alligator Point [sharks!] in Panama City Beach, Fla. August 14, 2010. Official White House [of horrors] Photo by Pete Souza.
See also:
Researchers in Georgia say most of the BP oil the government said was gone from the Gulf of Mexico is still there.
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Posted in Alligator Point, disaster 2010, Gulf of Mexico oil Spill, Gulf Oil Disaster, Panama City Beach | Tagged: Deepwater Horizon spill, Dispersant in Gulf of Mexico, Macondo oil well, phytoplankton, University of South Florida | Leave a Comment »
Posted by feww on July 29, 2008
Note to Google Watchers: For reasons unknown to Moderators, Google blocked this post for about 18 days [it only showed up on Google via Technorati.com and examiner.com]
Primary production is the production of biological organic compounds from inorganic materials through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. Organisms that can create biomass in this manner (notably plants) are known as primary producers, and form the basis of the food chain. In oceanography and limnology the primary producers in aquatic environments are phytoplankton utilizing energy from sunlight. Photo credit: SeaWiFS Project, NASA
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Posted in Climate Change, energy, environment, food, Global Warming, health, politics, Tourism, Travel | Tagged: A Conspiracy Against the Public, biomass, chemosynthesis, energy from sunlight, organic compounds, photosynthesis, phytoplankton, plants, Primary production | 1 Comment »
Posted by feww on May 15, 2008
Phytoplankton Bloom in North Sea off Scotland
Photo by MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite
The northern and western highlands of Scotland were still winter-brown and even dusted with snow in places, but the waters of the North Sea were blooming with phytoplankton (tiny, plant-like organisms) on May 8, 2008, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over the region and captured this image.
Phytoplankton are tiny organisms—many are just a single cell—that use chlorophyll and other pigments to capture light for photosynthesis. Because these pigments absorb sunlight, they change the color of the light reflected from the sea surface back to the satellite (shades of bright blue and green). Scientists have used observations of “ocean color” from satellites for more than 20 years to track worldwide patterns in phytoplankton blooms.
Phytoplankton are important to the Earth system for a host of reasons, including their status as the base of the ocean food web. In the North Sea, they are the base of the food web that supports Scotland’s commercial fisheries, including monkfish and herring. As photosynthesizers, they also play a crucial role in the carbon cycle, removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Some oceanographers are concerned that rising ocean temperatures will slow phytoplankton growth rates, harming marine ecosystems and causing carbon dioxide to accumulate more rapidly in the atmosphere.
NASA image by Norman Kuring, Ocean Color Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey (some editing by FEWW).
Posted in Climate Change, energy, environment, food, Global Warming, health, oceans | Tagged: Aqua satellite, carbon dioxide, Goddard, herring, highlands, marine ecosystems, MODIS, monkfish, nasa, North Sea, ocean color, photosynthesis, phytoplankton, Scotland | Leave a Comment »
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