Building blocks of ocean food web in rapid decline as plankton productivity down - Sensationalist Headlines

Building blocks of ocean food web in rapid decline as plankton productivity plunges Phytoplankton and zooplankton that live near the surface are the base of the ocean's food system. Everything from small fish, big fish, whales and seabirds depend on their productivity. "They actually determine what's going to happen, how much energy is going to be available for the rest of the food chain," explained Pierre Pepin, a senior researcher with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in St. John's. Pepin says over the past three to four years, scientists have seen a persistent drop in phytoplankton and zooplankton in waters off Newfoundland and Labrador. "Based on the measurements that we've been taking in this region, we've seen pretty close to 50 per cent decline in the overall biomass of zooplankton," said Pepin. "So that's pretty dramatic." https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/ocean-phytoplankton-zooplankton-food-web-1.4927884

"You know if you saw half the number of birds, if you saw half the number of fish in the water you'd pay attention. Well, this is a signal to say we need to pay attention." We actually are. But hey, as long as I have many horsepowers and cheap meat, who cares amirite

Its not just land based pollution. Its the noise and tidal pollution of an increasing number of ships on the sea. Its the constant rebuilding of beaches. Its the small bits of plastic and floating choke zones after oil spill clean ups.

OH BOY, it's happening already. We thought all the old farts would be dead and in the ground for decades before the checks cleared on their rampant excesses, but no, they get a front row seat to the opening act. Maybe, just maybe, they'll take the hint and start taking action sooner than later. oh god it's already happening oh fuck

@OvB Gonna need your take on this

Wonder if anyone has used this http://www.ioccg.org/handbook/casestudy6_melin_hoepffner.pdf to calculate the global trend...

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1a/fd/a5/1afda5fe86efec82521a400e998ef78f.jpg

Thus, at higher temperatures, eukaryotic phytoplankton seem to require a lower density of ribosomes to produce the required amounts of cellular protein. The reduction of phosphate-rich ribosomes2 in warmer oceans will tend to produce higher organismal nitrogen (N) to phosphate (P) ratios, in turn increasing demand for N with consequences for the marine carbon cycle due to shifts towards N-limitation. Our integrative approach suggests that temperature plays a previously unrecognized, critical role in resource allocation and marine phytoplankton stoichiometry, with implications for the biogeochemical cycles that they drive. So, possibly a nitrogen deficiencies? I wonder.

Plankton is literally the basis for all life in the oceans so this is a BIG FUCKING DEAL.

Aren't plankton key in absorbing about a third of CO2 as well? We are so fucked.

sounds like we gotta open another clean coal plant!

And the vast majority of our oxygen lol. Double whammy, gg humans

As always, no quarter and no mercy for the people who could have helped stop this but didn't, for profit.

Can we eat the the rich already.

Honestly, I get why people become apathetic and depressed about the future - these kind of news have become regular, and there'll continue to be an increase of them as time goes on.

This is all so sudden. Oh well, what can you do...

It's concerning for sure. Something I think regular people forget about. Sorta like bees and bugs and birds that we are destroying on land. Something that worries me is acidification. Like, whether you ~believe~ in climate change or not, acidification is undeniable. You can measure it. It's also caused by excess CO2. So we should stop CO2 emissions whether they affect the climate or not. Because if the oceans die, we all die. To put it simply: https://utmsi.utexas.edu/images/easyblog_images/1402/food-web_Fuiman_Ecology_web.png The food web of the ocean gets severed or suffers greatly. Everything suffers if we lose plankton. If the ocean dies, anything that lives off fish (like humans) suffer with it. It'll be slow and suffering. People will starve. There will be mass migrations. Terrorism. Cannibalism. Famine. It'll make the Plague look like an inconvenience. Basically it'll make all the bad things going on in the world worse things. The poor will suffer greatly and millions, if not billions, will simply wither away, no longer being able to be supported. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/504/32242694781_dc5e41b41e_o.jpg Not to mention all the other shit going on at the same time like reefs dying because of acidification and pollution, over exploitation of fisheries, climate change, etc etc. The ocean food web should extend into the human food web. Maybe people will see the importance of keeping it healthy. Make it clear that the human at the end of the chain is your child should you choose to have one.