Even when larger phytoplankton produce more carbon, much of it is lost on the journey to the ocean floor.
carbon
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Why Marine Heat Waves and Acidification Strike Together
A chemistry tug-of-war between ocean acidity and carbon in warming oceans determines when and where these damaging events strike.
Posted inFeatures
Measuring Microplastics in Every Ocean Layer
Small bits of plastic don’t just float at the sea surface—they span the entire water column. Scientists need consistent methods to track these particles and to better understand the hazards they pose.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Carbon-Rich Rocks May Have Cooled the Ancient Martian Atmosphere
Data from the Perseverance rover indicate abundant carbonates in Jezero Crater, a finding with implications for Mars’s climatic history.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Eddy or Not: Do Eddies Actually Transport That Much Carbon?
New data from remote floats around the world indicate the eddy subduction pump is of only secondary importance.
Posted inResearch & Developments
FY2027 Budget Request Slashes Billions in Science Funding
The Trump administration is requesting the cancellation of billions of dollars in funds for space science, renewable energy, carbon removal, and climate change education in its FY 2027 budget.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Bacteria Decide the Ocean’s Dissolved Organic Carbon Abundance
Dissolved organic carbon prevalence follows from how many bacteria are around to eat it, modeling suggests.
Posted inResearch & Developments
The Endangerment Finding Is Lost
Tomorrow, the EPA will revoke the 2009 Endangerment Finding, finalizing a July proposal to do so, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a 10 February announcement.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Marine Snow Grows Faster and Fluffier as It Sinks
New observations highlight how abiotic and biotic processes influence the tiny oceanic particles.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
What Could Happen to the Ocean’s Carbon If AMOC Collapses
Mass glacier melting may have led this influential ocean current system to collapse at the end of the last ice age. A pair of modeling studies examines how such a collapse could affect dissolved inorganic carbon and carbon isotopes in Earth’s oceans.