What’s happening with the ocean? We know how beautiful the color of the ocean is, it can even mesmerize us. However, climate change is lowering the chances of witnessing it. This is causing negative consequences on marine life which depends a lot on the sunlight, and the ocean darkening is making this so difficult. More and more parts of the planet are getting their oceans darker and we tend to think it is a aesthetic thing, but it is much deeper.
That’s why environmental science is taking action and has been studying this issue. Scientists have discovered the reason behind this darkening and its consequences.
Let’s see why sunligh is so important and what climate change is doing against marine life and us.
The importance of sunlight underwater
Sunlight is a crucial source for marine life deep in the ocean. The logical thing to happen is that the sunlight reaches a point in the deepness of the ocean and the upper layer is the brightest part (at least that’s how it should be) also known as the photic zone.
Here, many species like seaweeds or phytoplankton live thanks to the sunlight because of their photosynthesis process. They are the ones who provide energy, oxygen and food to marine life – they transform sunlight into that energy.
What environmental science has to say on this
Environmental science is in charge of studying and researching situations dealing with our planet’s health. So, some U.K. researchers have used satellite data from NASA from 2003 and 2022. You won’t believe what they found out…
Sunlight is not reaching as deep as before, so the photic zone is getting smaller which is a problem for marine life. Some data they have collected is that more than 20% of the ocean has been getting less sunlight in the past 20 years.
What’s the reason behind this ocean darkening?
Of course, pollution is behind this. The trash and chemical substances from cities reach the ocean through rivers or the rain and this accumulation stops sunlight to get deeper in the ocean.
Seaweed blooming is getting out of control and is another aspect for the sunlight blocking. More marine life, like phytoplankton, is the cause of the lack of sunlight because their spots are being used by other species, so the phytoplankton have to move other place and this is also a reason for the lack of sunlight in the ocean.
Last, but not least, climate change is affecting ocean currents which change how the water is mixed and the amount of sunlight getting into the ocean.
This issue is way more tragic than we think
The fact that the sunlight is not reaching enough spots in the ocean means that marine life won’t have their main resource for surviving, so they will be closer to the upper layer to find that sunlight. This will increase the competition for food, space, and oxygen between the different species.
Also, if there are less phytoplankton, the ocean won’t be able to clean the air because it couldn’t absorb as much carbon dioxide as before.
What’s our responsibility?
Well, this is a big issue because it not only affects marine life, we are also getting affected. We depend on the environment more than we think.
So, to try to avoid this issue we can do some things like reduce the plastic use and get informed to know what you can be involved in to improve this situation. It is true that it’s not only us, big companies and institutions are the ones who should change their policies on environment.
Let’s hope everybody will be more conscious about it as soon as possible, so that this situation can be solved before it is too late.
English (US) ·