Micro-algae

[mrsonde]

On one of our local beaches last night I was amazed to see that the amount of green seaweed has suddenly multiplied by four or five times since I was there, about two weeks ago. I've never seen such a bloom. I don't mean kelp, I mean the deep green, multifilamented, grass-like stuff:



Now - has anyone done any measurements of how much of this plant grows, under what conditions? And fed the data into their computer models? We're talking a lot of CO2 converted there, in a very small area. Many football pitches worth. It's just a guess, but I suspect such a measurement goes a very long way to balancing out however much CO2 is supposedly "sunk" into the oceans. I also strongly suspect that no such measurements have been made, and no such data used in calculations of the overall carbon balance. Does anyone know if that's wrong?

[principled]

Mr S
According to a recent scientific report, what you observed (ie increased seaweed growth) is happening throughout the world.
See: earthsky.org/science-wire/elevated-carbon-dioxide-making-arid-regions-greener

I have been unable to find any publicly available reports about the increase in carbon absorption. However, here is a quote from an abstract of a research paper about the Tibetan grasslands, which seems to support the idea that carbon "capture" has certainly increased.

The model simulation also suggests that Qinghai–Tibetan grassland NEP increased from a net carbon source of − 0.5 Tg C yr− 1 in the 1960s to a net carbon sink of 21.8 Tg C yr− 1 in the 2000s, mainly due to the rising atmospheric CO2 concentration and precipitation change

From: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921818112001737

P

[alancalverd]

Difficult to tell from one beach whether there is a general phenomenon. In the space of two weeks the tide will have gone from neap to spring or vice versa, the surface wind may have blown in every direction except vertical, and the Gulf Stream will have moved every floating object at least 1200 miles eastwards even if there is no wind. It is in the nature of scalloped (i.e. natural) beaches that stuff tends to concentrate in a few places along a long shore. So we may be looking at a complete non-event.

On the other hand this is the period of most rapid growth for many plants, so if it has been sunny out at sea, you'd get a significant bloom in late May, ahead of the maturing of those fish and other creatures that eat the stuff. So you may be seeing the consequences of excessive plant growth or of a shortage of marine herbivores!

[marchesarosa]

Of course. CO2 fertilizes ocean plants as well as terrestrial ones!

More food for fish therefore more fish! Whats not to like?

[alancalverd]

But all the fish are supposed to be dying from skin cancer caused by the hole in the ozone layer (DEFINITELY NOT the EU Common Fisheries Policy)!