Climate Change - The Sea Sparkles Dangerously

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//Underwater Ecosystems//

Water chemistry is a fascinating part of science and is an important part of understanding ecosystems. I’ve spent far too long on YouTube looking up close ecosystems and it’s been interesting to slowly understand all the different types of life that can be sustained in a closed system after an initial bacterial colony is established. Having owned a few aquariums of my own, bacterial bloom is an indicator that many first time aquarists will look out for before approaching introducing inhabitants while considering the bio-load of the system. What we practice in these containers are just emulations of what is happening in the real world. Algae is often associated with an imbalance and can act as an indicator of imbalance. Nature has its own indicators and scientists are taking a deeper look at what the planet is telling us.

//Rapid Blooming//


The Arabian Sea around the Himalayas are experiencing Noctiluca scintillans bloom at an alarming rate. This algae is also known as sea sparkle and feeds on plankton, fish eggs, bacteria, diatoms and other marine based life forms. While not toxic, it does introduce a resilient and rapidly increasingly presence of the algae that feeds on various life. It is possible that this resilient marine species that is able to thrive in low-oxygen conditions has gained favour in current climate change conditions while other essential life such as diatoms are facing increasing competition. Diatoms are just one of the essential contributors to the marine life ecosystem as they are responsible for carbon to oxygen conversion under water. Reduction of this and generally low oxygen environments is detrimental to marine life, local industries such a fisheries will be heavily impacted.

//Climate Change Bloom//


Scientists will continue to review this situation and it does make me wonder how the marine ecosystem will morph over the next decade. Will it cause life to shift towards other parts of the planet or will marine life evolve to survive in oxygen deprived environments. We may not see that in our lifetimes but watching and understanding changes as they happen is important. The increase in Noctiluca has been attributed to melting glaciers, a knock on effect of climate change. It remains to be seen just how much the food web alters but it’s a great concern that is accompanied by visible indication as the sea sparkle can be seen from space. When the planet blooms, changes are happening and the dangers it introduces will need to be studied extensively in the near and long term future.

Sources
https://www.sciencealert.com/shrinking-snowcaps-in-the-himalayas-might-be-driving-harmful-algal-blooms-in-the-arabian-sea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctiluca_scintillans



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