Plankton can change the weather and create clouds

It is said that size does not matter, and this is also true for tiny plankton. These are free-floating living organisms in the ocean and they are the basis for marine food chains. Small organisms can change the weather and in the long term climate change in ways that benefit them.

When solar energy is too big, floating organisms create clouds.

Plankton can change the weather and create clouds (Photo: alles). It's unbelievable, but recent NASA-funded studies have confirmed an old hypothesis that floating creatures have Can indirectly create clouds to prevent harmful radiation from the sun. The study was conducted by Dierdre Toole - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) and David Siegel - University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).

From research, it has been shown that in the summer when sunlight shines on the surface of the ocean surface where plankton live, harmful ultraviolet rays (UV) adversely affect plankton, They are also the cause of tanning in humans.

When plankton is affected, or stressed by UV, their biochemical changes will occur.

Plankton try to protect themselves by producing a chemical compound called DMSP that scientists believe helps to strengthen their cell walls. These chemicals are decomposed in water by bacteria, transformed into another substance called DMS.

DMS escapes the ocean into the atmosphere and continues to decompose to form tiny dust-like particles. These particles are just the right size to focus on steam, starting with clouds. So indirectly, plankton have helped create more clouds, more and more clouds clouds mean less direct light shines on the ocean surface. This reduces stress on these organisms by reducing harmful UV rays.

DMS was born most from June to September. The strange thing is that this time is the time when plankton drops to a minimum. This proves that the number of plankton does not affect the amount of DMS they produce. The study found that, during the summer, up to 77% of changes in DMS levels are directly related to UV light. Researchers are surprised that only one factor has such an impact on this process.

Siegel commented: 'For those who are studying marine biology and ecology, it is difficult to believe in such absolute variations' .

The researchers were also surprised to find that DMS molecules can reinvent themselves after three to five days. That means plankton can react with UV rays fast enough to affect their own weather conditions. Toole and Siegel were surprised by the very fast turnover of DMS.

The researchers' next step will be to assess to what extent these clouds really affect climate change. By showing how the plankton reacts to light, scientists now have the information needed to build mathematical models to calculate the effects of plankton the creation of clouds. Because white clouds can reflect sunlight back into space, scientists believe that the clouds created by plankton can have certain effects on global temperatures.

This research has been funded by NASA. And research on DMS has been sponsored by the National Science Association.