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on Sunday April 02 2017, @04:28PM
from the visit-the-scenic-algae-blooms-of-Antartica dept.
from the visit-the-scenic-algae-blooms-of-Antartica dept.
When spring arrives in the Arctic, both snow and sea ice melt, forming melt ponds on the surface of the sea ice. Every year, as global warming increases, there are more and larger melt ponds.
Melt ponds provide more light and heat for the ice and the underlying water, but now it turns out that they may also have a more direct and potentially important influence on life in the Arctic waters.
Mats of algae and bacteria can evolve in the melt ponds, which can provide food for marine creatures. This is the conclusion of researchers in the periodical, Polar Biology.
More information:
Heidi Louise Sørensen et al. Nutrient availability limits biological production in Arctic sea ice melt ponds, Polar Biology (2017). DOI: 10.1007/s00300-017-2082-7
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Melting Sea Ice May Lead to More Life in the Sea
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Grelb's Reminder:
Eighty percent of all people consider themselves to be above
average drivers.
(Score: 2) by Hartree on Sunday April 02 2017, @06:41PM (4 children)
Jellyfish mostly just float around or slowly swim. I've never seen one even hop, let alone pounce.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 02 2017, @07:24PM (2 children)
Warming is energy. Energy they can thrive on, increasing their numbers. More numbers means more mutations. More mutations means evolution. They will harness the increased energy and come out of the water. They will come for your families.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 02 2017, @07:35PM
Should we wake the Sheeple from their ten thousand year slumber?
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Sunday April 02 2017, @07:58PM
And will they be orange with small tentacles/tendrils, or will they be slimy and made of cardboard (and have a mate who runs onto the tarmac to meet with King Neptune)?
Yeah, yeah... Off topic politics...
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 3, Informative) by requerdanos on Sunday April 02 2017, @07:33PM
Have you ever been pounced on by a neurotoxic jellyfish?
Jellyfish mostly just float [or] swim. I've never seen one...pounce.
Okay, fair enough. But it *feels* like you've been pounced on because that's kind of what's happening at the macro-biological level... The Jellyfish's cnidoblasts [howstuffworks.com] erupt towards its prey in a process that the linked site describes aptly like this: "The stinging cells spring out at the unwitting victim...."
It's really pretty cool once you get over how much it hurts (speaking from experience).