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Marine algae show resilience to carbon dioxide emissions
http://noc.ac.uk/news/marine-algae-show-resilience-carbon-dioxide-emissions[font face=Serif][font size=5]Marine algae show resilience to carbon dioxide emissions[/font]
April 15, 2013
[font size=4]A type of marine algae could become bigger as increasing carbon dioxide emissions are absorbed by the oceans, according to research led by scientists based at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS).[/font]
[font size=3]The study, published this month in PLoS ONE, investigated how a strain of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi might respond if all fossil fuels are burned by the year 2100 – predicted to drive up atmospheric CO[font size="1"]2[/font] levels to over four times the present day. Specimens grown under this high CO[font size="1"]2[/font] scenario were compared with specimens grown under present day CO[font size="1"]2[/font] levels.
Coccolithophores are microscopic algae that form the base of marine food chains. They secrete calcite shells which eventually sink to the seafloor and form sediments, drawing down and locking away carbon in rocks. Because of their calcitic shells, some species have been shown to be sensitive to ocean acidification, which occurs when increasing amounts of atmospheric CO[font size="1"]2[/font] are absorbed by the ocean, increasing seawater acidity.
…
“Contrary to many studies, we see that this species of coccolithophore gets bigger and possesses more calcite under worst-case scenario CO[font size="1"]2[/font] levels for the year 2100,” says Dr Bethan Jones, lead author and former researcher at University of Southampton Ocean and Earth Science, which is based at NOCS. “They do not simply dissolve away under high CO[font size="1"]2[/font] and elevated acidity.”
…[/font][/font]
April 15, 2013
[font size=4]A type of marine algae could become bigger as increasing carbon dioxide emissions are absorbed by the oceans, according to research led by scientists based at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS).[/font]
[font size=3]The study, published this month in PLoS ONE, investigated how a strain of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi might respond if all fossil fuels are burned by the year 2100 – predicted to drive up atmospheric CO[font size="1"]2[/font] levels to over four times the present day. Specimens grown under this high CO[font size="1"]2[/font] scenario were compared with specimens grown under present day CO[font size="1"]2[/font] levels.
Coccolithophores are microscopic algae that form the base of marine food chains. They secrete calcite shells which eventually sink to the seafloor and form sediments, drawing down and locking away carbon in rocks. Because of their calcitic shells, some species have been shown to be sensitive to ocean acidification, which occurs when increasing amounts of atmospheric CO[font size="1"]2[/font] are absorbed by the ocean, increasing seawater acidity.
…
“Contrary to many studies, we see that this species of coccolithophore gets bigger and possesses more calcite under worst-case scenario CO[font size="1"]2[/font] levels for the year 2100,” says Dr Bethan Jones, lead author and former researcher at University of Southampton Ocean and Earth Science, which is based at NOCS. “They do not simply dissolve away under high CO[font size="1"]2[/font] and elevated acidity.”
…[/font][/font]
