The Ocean Is Changing Color

Scientists detect shift in most of world's oceans, and they point the finger at a warming climate
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 24, 2023 12:02 PM CDT
The Ocean Is Changing Color
Stock photo.   (Getty/mihtiander)

The ocean's color isn't what it used to be. In a study in Nature, scientists say they've detected a color shift in 56% of the world's oceans over the last 20 years, reports Space.com. And while seawater can be a variable thing, the pace of that change is much faster than would be occurring naturally, say the researchers. Instead, the world's warming temperatures appear to be behind the rapid shift, per the Washington Post. A tangible example: Tropical waters near the equator have become "steadily greener," notes a news release from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Some of the color shifts are so subtle that the human eye can't discern them—but they're happening nonetheless.

"I've been running simulations that have been telling me for years that these changes in ocean color are going to happen," says study Stephanie Dutkiewicz of MIT. "To actually see it happening for real is not surprising, but frightening. And these changes are consistent with man-induced changes to our climate." The color changes are driven by marine algae, or phytoplankton, that live in the upper layer of the ocean and "harvest sunlight," as the MIT release puts it. The microbes are particularly susceptible to climate change—they are "a powerful muscle in the ocean's ability to capture and store carbon dioxide," per the release—and thus scientists have long kept on eye on them through satellite data.

What the new analysis suggests is that the phytoplankton is changing much faster than would happen naturally, specifically without greenhouse gas emissions heating the planet. The ecosystem of the oceans is incredibly complex, and researchers say they don't fully understand why water color has shifted so quickly, but they see the big picture as troubling. "These ecosystems have taken millions of years to evolve together and be in balance," Dutkiewicz tells the Post. "Changes in such a short amount of time are not good because they put the whole ecosystem out of balance." (More discoveries stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X