Hurricanes and Ocean Plants
The Importance of Phytoplankton to the Earth's Oceans
Hurricanes are known for the great devastation left in their wake on land; however, as hurricanes race across the Earth's oceans, tiny ocean plants, called phytoplankton, thrive in the after effects. Phytoplankton are of great importance to both the survival of other fish and sea mammals and to the reduction of greenhouse gases.
What are Phytoplankton?
Phytoplankton are tiny, drifting plants which inhabit the Earth's oceans; they are usually too small to be seen by the naked human eye but can be seen as a green discoloration of the water when drifting in large numbers. This discoloration of the water is due to the chlorophyll present in the phytoplankton cells. Phytoplankton have many species and form the foundation of the marine food chain.
Phytoplankton need water, sunlight and nutrients to grow and need to be near the surface of the water to gain these elements; they obtain energy through the process of photosynthesis, the same process by which land plants do. Through the process of photosynthesis, phytoplankton are accountable for much of the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere.
Phytoplankton need other nutrients, such as iron, in order to survive. Cold surface water allows the deeper depths of the ocean to swell up and bring these nutrients to the surface, but if the water is warm, essential nutrients are essentially blocked. Phytoplankton starve and die and, in turn, with the loss of the food chain, other fish and sea mammals die too.
The Effect of Hurricanes on Phytoplankton
Hurricanes stir up the oceans and consequently bring much needed nutrients to the water's surface, providing food for phytoplankton, and in turn, fish and mammals. A study carried out by the Applied Physics Laboratory at John Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland between 1998 and 2001, used NASA satellite data to analyze the level of chlorophyll present in phytoplankton after a hurricane.
The study showed that the size, strength and speed of a hurricane impacted on the number of phytoplankton which benefited from the storm; for about two to three weeks after a hurricane, it appeared that phytoplankton grew in strength. Phytoplankton growth means the trapping of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere, through the energy conversion process of photosynthesis; carbon dioxide is carried to the ocean floor, in carbon form when the ocean plants die, a natural process of the Earth's carbon cycle.
Phytoplankton Influence on Global Change
Phytoplankton use carbon dioxide in the process of photosynthesis; more phytoplankton means more carbon dioxide used and taken from the Earth's atmosphere, lowering the amount of greenhouse gases. Phytoplankton are affected by the surrounding environment and therefore notify scientists to a change in environmental conditions in a particular area; phytoplankton population rises and falls in response to the availability of sunlight, water and nutrients.
Satellite images provide scientists with a clear view of any change in color densities of a particular area of the oceans; a high population of phytoplankton will appear as certain colors on a satellite image, due to the process of photosynthesis (photosynthesis means that green light is reflected and red and blue light is absorbed). These tiny ocean plants are of extreme importance to the Earth's oceans, atmosphere and food chain.
References:
The Effect Of Hurricanes On Ocean Plant Life
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