From blue to green.. This is how climate change changed the color of the oceans around the world

Weather of Arabia - Even the world's oceans have not been spared the consequences of climate change and the rise in global temperature, as significant changes have been observed in the color of sea water from oceans around the world from blue to green

As it is known, the color of the ocean differs from one region to another; It ranges from green to blue depending on the concentration of phytoplankton, which uses chlorophyll to help plants grow in the water, and the more this substance is, the greener the color of the water.

Climate change and rising temperatures stimulate the growth of phytoplankton in seas and oceans

The percentage of phytoplankton spread in the oceans affects many things on the planet, especially since water covers about 71% of the land, and therefore it affects the temperature balance on Earth and the amount of light and heat absorbed by the oceans.

It is worth noting that plankton are mostly microscopic organisms with a diameter of less than 1 micrometer and not more than 1000 micrometers. The higher the ocean temperature as a result of climate change, the less the interaction of the upper layers with the lower layers, and as a result, the smaller plankton are increasing in numbers than the larger ones, as they help more to store carbon, and these transformations lead to movement shifts in the food chain in the ocean and reduce the efficiency of carbon absorption from surroundings efficiently.

Reasons for interest in changing the color of the ocean

BB Kyle, from Britain's National Oceanographic Centre, explained that the reason for the interest in color change is that color reflects the state of the ecosystem, so color changes mean changes in the ecosystem. Accordingly, Kyle's team decided to analyze data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), a sensor aboard NASA's Aqua satellite, which was launched in 2002 and is still orbiting Earth, far exceeding its six-year life expectancy. . In this context, the team looked for trends in seven different wavelengths of light from the ocean, rather than sticking to the single wavelength used. To track the measure of chlorophyll that is often used.

With two decades of Moody's data, scientists have been able to see long-term changes in ocean color. They observed remarkable shifts in 56% of the world's ocean surface, mostly in waters between latitudes 40°S and 40°N. These tropical and subtropical waters in general do not vary much in color throughout the year, because the regions do not vary much in color. Experience extreme seasons - so the small, long-term changes are more noticeable there, Kyle mentions.

What does the oceans change to green?

Theoretically, biological productivity will change as ocean waters become warmer with climate change . On the other hand, Kyle said, on the other hand, it may not be a direct effect of increased sea surface temperatures, because the areas where the color change was observed do not match those in which temperatures generally increased. One possibility is that the shift may have something to do with how nutrients are distributed in the ocean.

As surface water temperatures rise as a result of climate change , the upper layers of the ocean become more compacted, making it difficult for nutrients to rise to the surface. When there are fewer nutrients, smaller phytoplankton are better at surviving than larger plankton, so changes in nutrient levels can lead to changes in the ecosystem that are reflected in changes in the overall water color.