Plankton contribute to super typhoons

The color of the sea can affect the number and scale of storms.Photo: NASA

Plankton are ubiquitous in the ocean in extremely crowded numbers. Their legions can be colored in the sea, turning blue into green with chlorophyll. Blue seawater keeps light and heat coming from the sun in shallow water, thereby increasing the surface temperature and creating more conditions for the formation of violent storms.

In a study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, US researchers questioned: What if plankton disappears from the Pacific Ocean, returning the original green to the sea? At this time, the light will shine deeper into the sea and the water will be cool. That's not to mention a blue ocean that will reduce 70% of storms in the Pacific Northwest part - the leader of the Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Anand Gnanadesikan. At that time, the storm will gather at the equator, the only area where the sea water is warm enough.'There will be fewer storms hitting Japan and southern China, while more storms will occur in Vietnam and Cambodia' , NOAA describes the simulation results on lab computers.

Artwork: files32.com

Gnanadesikan said, of course, that a 100% blue sea surface is completely unrealistic, but even a small change can have a tremendous effect. For example, just a slight discoloration of the ocean could send 25% more hurricanes into Hawaii, a prospect that shivers any government. Fortunately, the ocean does not make it difficult for people like that, although sometimes the plankton population also increases or decreases, affecting storms. And people should not think about negative solutions to eliminate super typhoons.'This is not the case where we think it is possible to spray cyanide poison into the sea on the path of the storm to kill plankton, then super typhoon will disappear , ' Gnanadesikan said. Because there must be time for the heat from the sun to travel across the ocean and create a full effect on the atmosphere.