Word: phytoplankton
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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SeaStar's job is simple: it is designed to track phytoplankton, tiny ocean- dwelling plants that serve as the basis for the entire marine food chain. Scientists theorize that the phytoplankton population is governed by the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The gas is also the most important cause of the global warming that many atmospheric scientists think will trigger major climate changes in the coming century. So a careful scrutiny of phytoplankton numbers may provide a sort of early-warning system that can alert the world to a potential catastrophe...
SeaStar won't be merely a scientific toy. Because fish love to feast on phytoplankton, the satellite will be pinpointing places where fishing boats might come away with a big haul. Fishermen will be able to get the tips through direct radio links to SeaStar...
...worrisome is the threat to the world's food supply. High doses of UV radiation can reduce the yield of basic crops such as soybeans. UV-B, the most dangerous variety of ultraviolet, penetrates scores of meters below the surface of the oceans. There the radiation can kill phytoplankton (one-celled plants) and krill (tiny shrimplike animals), which are at the very bottom of the ocean food chain. Since these organisms, found in greatest concentrations in Antarctic waters, nourish larger fish, the ultimate consumers -- humans -- may face a maritime food shortage. Scientists believe the lower plants and animals can adapt...
...mist can be as deadly as it is ugly. It coats the leaves of palm trees, starving them for sunlight, and so they shrivel. It falls on the surface of the Persian Gulf, already assaulted by oil spills and acid rain, posing a further threat to the phytoplankton that is the base food supply for the region's abundant fisheries. And it enters the air passages and lungs of all breathing creatures. Kuwaitis who have seen the blackened lungs of slaughtered animals and watched livestock and wildlife sicken and die can only wonder what effect the ubiquitous mist is having...
...other organisms, reliably send zebra mussels into fatal shock. Paints laced with potassium, she speculates, might protect underwater structures from mussel infestation. Physiologist Jeffrey Ram of Wayne State University in Detroit makes an even more devious suggestion. Zebra-mussel spawning, he notes, is triggered by odors wafting from phytoplankton. These chemical cues ensure that the eggs hatch when the food supply is plentiful. But what if synthetic scents were dabbled like perfume above the mussel beds? A premature spawn, says Ram, would surely doom most of the larvae...