Dark blue areas in this figure of the global distribution of chlorophyll are the areas with the least surface chlorophyll. Care of NASA.
Maybe that’s a bit dramatic - but the oceans’ deserts are expanding faster than usual according to this article.
What does this mean for marine life? Well, it may dramatically reduce the habitats and, therefore, the population of fish that can’t withstand the “desert” environment.
““The fact that we are seeing an expansion of the ocean’s least productive areas as the subtropical gyres warm is consistent with our understanding of the impact of global warming. But with a nine-year time series, it is difficult to rule out decadal variation,” said Jeffrey J. Polovina, an oceanographer with NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service in Honolulu.”
The map above shows low areas of chlorophyll which indicates where there are low areas of phytoplankton - the bottom of the food chain for marine life. So, where’s there’s low phytoplankton, there’s low populations of marine life.
Certainly a concerning trend.
- Linds