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How plankton change the climate: Plankton affect our planet far more then their-size suggests. Their role in the carbon cycle pushed the world into ice ages and could control how fast our climate changes in the future

Pictures of spreads from New Scientist magazine

Plankton are some of the smallest living things on Earth, but they could influence the climate of the whole planet. They are the most abundant form of life in the oceans, in both weight and sheer numbers. A litre of seawater can contain many millions of bacteria, thousands of phytoplankton-microscopic plants-and hundreds of zooplankton-microscopic animals.

These tiny organisms influence our climate in several ways. They absorb and scatter light, warming the topmost layers of the ocean, and they produce volatile organic compounds, such as dimethyl sulphide, which help clouds form. But their most significant role is moving carbon around the oceans, on a scale large enough to affect levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This is how plankton play a part in the natural greenhouse effect. No one is yet sure how they will respond to the warming prompted by extra greenhouse gases; they may help keep carbon dioxide ...



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