Anyone else concerned about the near total disappearance of the ocean's plankton?

[intrepidity]

I read a few days ago (via a link on DU, but don't have it handy; appreciate if any who do could please post) about a very recent Scottish study that found an astonishing depletion of the world's plankton--something like 90% or something.

The prediction was--albeit from the same group who was shocked by the finding, because it was occurring several decades earlier than even they had thought--that by 2050 (I think; may have even been 2030) ALL plankton would be depleated. Completely.

Do you have any.idea what this means?

[ret5hd]

1. It means we all die.

[sakabatou]

5. Yes, that could mean the end

[Marcuse]

2. Whales are concerned.

[crickets]

3. Yes. It's a nightmare. nt

[dalton99a]

4. Beware of bad science reporting: No, we haven't killed 90% of all plankton

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/07/no-the-oceans-are-not-empty-of-plankton/
Beware of bad science reporting: No, we haven’t killed 90% of all plankton [Updated]
A very misleading article on marine life has been getting a lot of attention.
Jonathan M. Gitlin - 7/21/2022, 8:06 AM

[intrepidity]

9. Thank you

It still sounds dire, but not quite as bad.

Update 8:52 am EST, 7/21: Howard Dryden reached out to me to express his dismay at having been misquoted by the Sunday Post, which should have reported a "90% reduction in marine plankton in the Equatorial Atlantic, not the whole Atlantic."
......
The Continuous Plankton Survey has indeed cataloged a loss of plankton over the years—but nothing close to the 90 percent loss claimed by Dryden. "We have noticed long-term changes—northerly movements of plankton species as surface water warms, changes in seasonality in some taxa, invasives, etc.," Johns told Ars by email. "And we work with a wide group of scientists and governmental bodies, providing evidence for marine policy. As a group, we had an email discussion, and no one agreed with this report—and no one had heard of the guy (other than one person, and she was not complimentary at all)."

In addition to the small sample size, the preprint makes no mention of how or when the plankton samples were collected. "If those samples were taken during the day, in surface waters, there is likely lower numbers of zooplankton," Johns explained. "Also, [there is] no mention of what magnification [the researchers] were using. If you were using a low-power microscope, you would struggle to see the small stuff—in warm open ocean Atlantic waters, much of the zooplankton is pretty small, and they might have trouble picking them out."

[NJCher]

10. that's helpful to know

but the article still notes that the oceans are in trouble, big trouble.

[Mr.Bill]

11. Thanks for posting that.

I read the article the OP refered to and honestly, my first thought was I would like to know more about their collection of data and sampling methods.

[Big Blue Marble]

12. Bad reporting does not minimize the crisis.

There is a serious ongoing depletion of plantain and all marine life. The author of the study
express his dismay of seeing amost no.sea life for 22 days in the equatorial Atlantic.
That is not normal.

It does not have to be 90% to be alarming. The loss of plantain diminishes much of the oxygen
we all need.

[Big Blue Marble]

6. Very concerned.

They make our oxygen:

https://www.voanews.com/a/plankton-major-oxygen-source-earth/2791960.html

[NJCher]

7. this is why Biden should have declared

a climate emergency.

But he didn't.

World governments need to sponsor a working committee of marine scientists (oceanographers) to determine a course of action. Then governments need to listen to them and put their recommendations into effect.

But do you see any of this going on?

I'll give it a little time but if it doesn't happen soon the poster upthread who says I guess we'll just die is right.

[Justice matters.]

13. As it heats, water becomes more acidic.

Acidic environments kill life...

[Raine]

14. Definitely 😥 nt

[anarch]

15. I think it's safe to say at this point that the timeline for climate crisis is sped up

from the pace that scientific consensus had guessed at. It's later than we think.

[sinkingfeeling]

16. Yes.