How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect the oceans?

Effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the oceans

So basically…

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted everything from the largest societies on earth to the smallest microalgae in the sea.

The oceans directly influence life on Earth so any change on the surface of the planet has a direct impact on life on this planet. When global Covid-19 lockdowns closed the largest industries in the world for two months, there was a seven percent drop in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. To assess how this reduction could have affected the oceans, researchers examined the levels of chlorophyll-a before and during the pandemic using satellite images.

Chlorophyll-a is the pigment used by phytoplankton on the surface of the ocean to photosynthesize and is a key indicator of the health of the marine ecosystems. These phytoplankton take up atmospheric carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, so with a seven percent reduction, there was a drop in the amount of chlorophyll-a in the oceans.

While it seems that higher carbon dioxide levels would be better for the oceans, these higher levels actually increase the temperature of the surface water, which makes the water more acidic and less oxygenated, leading to negative effects on the phytoplankton.

This is further evidence that reducing CO2 emissions can only help the planet and recover the oceans.

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