Arabian Sea Dead Zone Now Size Of Texas; Plankton Blooms Turning Ocean Emerald Green
The Arabian Sea is now more likely to glow emerald green instead of sapphire blue in winter because its food chain is out of whack, researchers report today (Sept. 9).
The sea change could threaten the Arabian Sea, one of the world's great fisheries, which feeds more than 100 million people.
The sparkling emerald coloring comes from chlorophyll in microscopic plankton called Noctiluca scintillans. The vast green wave knocked out the foundation of the local food chain about 10 years ago, researchers report in the journal Nature Communications. The bioluminescent plankton blooms can thrive in low-oxygen "dead zones" where other marine creatures may struggle.
"These blooms are massive, appear year after year, and could be devastating to the Arabian Sea ecosystem over the long term," lead study author Helga do Rosario Gomes, a biogeochemist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York, said in a statement.
The Arabian Sea has a dead zone the size of Texas, and it's growing bigger every year. The researchers blame sewage and fertilizer flowing into the Arabian Sea for the toxic waters. "The amount of material being discharged is humongous," said study co-author Joaquim Goes, a biogeochemist at Lamont-Doherty.
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http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/stunning-emerald-green-arabian-sea-may-herald-ecosystem
