The Summer Sea Gets Skinny: 1980's to Summer 2002

The Summer Sea Gets Skinny: 1980's to Summer 2002

NASA and NOAA analysis showed that phytoplankton in the summer months in the North Pacific Ocean has decreased by about 30% compared to the past 20 years and by more than 10% in the North Atlantic, while there has also been an increase in the northern Indian Ocean and equatorial regions. This is due to the characteristics of the mid-latitude open ocean, where the surface layer warms, stratification strengthens, and nutrient supply from the deep layer weakens. In equatorial and monsoon regions, changes in upwelling and wind stresses determine the increase and decrease. Around 2000, a sense of urgency about climate change permeated society, and satellite ocean colorimetry, fluorometers, Argo floats, sediment traps, and numerical models were beginning to be assimilated. The decline in primary production spilled over into the food web and carbon cycle, requiring elaborate ocean management and enhanced long-term observation, including fisheries management, establishment of protect
ed areas, and coastal eutrophication countermeasures.