Plankton poo key to global warming

From: Psalm 110 (SatansLiars_at_SwiftRepugs.org)
Date: 08/18/04 

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 07:28:13 GMT

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,10485495%255E1702,00.html

 Plankton poo key to global warming
By Alex Wilson
18aug04

IN science the little things really do count. Just ask Tasmanian
researcher Dr Karin Beaumont, who is making it her life's work to
discover how the microscopic poo of tiny ocean organisms is affecting
global climate change.

The minuscule zooplankton feed on ocean algae which, like all plants,
use carbon dioxide to photosynthesise.

The carbon absorbed by the zooplankton is released in its faeces and
if it floats to the surface it can be reabsorbed into the atmosphere
and contribute to the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

If it sinks to the bottom of the ocean it is locked up in sedimentary
rock for thousands, if not millions, of years, keeping down the amount
of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Now if you're still not convinced you care whether zooplankton drop
sinkers or floaters you should know there are more than 1500 million
tonnes of protozoa, a type of zooplankton, in the Southern Ocean
alone.

All the penguins, seals, whales and other animals in the Southern
Ocean make up only 16 million tonnes.

And the ocean algae they feed on absorb about 40 per cent of the
carbon dioxide taken up by plants globally.

So, Dr Beaumont says, these tiny little poos matter.

"Plankton poo could be the key to understanding how much carbon
dioxide our oceans can store," she says.

In the past it was believed that most of the carbon sank to ocean
floor so the ocean could be relied on to play a major part in reducing
greenhouse gasses.

But Dr Beaumont has found that the poo of the most common species
actually floats to the surface.

"If most of this carbon is being kept in pellets near the surface and
not sinking then that means that the ocean is not acting as a great
sink and not reducing the greenhouse effect," she says.

To further the study of the effect of these tiny animals on global
climate change Dr Beaumont is collaborating with scientists from
around the world to launch a website to help identify their excretia.

"We are hoping to make this a worldwide resource – the first guide to
the identification of zooplankton poo – which will help other
researchers in their quest to understand the carbon cycle and how it
will affect our future climate," she says.

Dr Beaumont also hopes her work will eventually be factored into the
powerful computer-driven global climate models which attempt to
predict the future of the earth's climate.

She says she gets varied reactions when she tells people that she
studies plankton poo for a living.

"It's a conversation stopper," she says.

"I did have someone ask me when it was in my life, when I was growing
up, that I decided I wanted to dedicate my life to the study of poo."

She has a passion for the tiny organisms she studies, even creating
jewellery based on her favourite creatures, and hopes the general
public will become more aware of them.

"They are just so beautiful," she says.