Over the past two decades, there's been a 57 percent increase in phytoplankton in the Arctic ocean, an analysis by researchers from Stanford University has revealed.
"The increase in NPP over the past decade is due almost exclusively to a recent increase in phytoplankton biomass," says Arrigo.
"We knew the Arctic had increased production in the last few years, but it seemed possible the system was just recycling the same store of nutrients," says Lewis.
Phytoplankton are absorbing more carbon year after year as new nutrients come into this ocean.
Getting a grip on the influx of nutrients is easier said than done since it depends so much on the complexities of ocean currents spreading mixes of different materials through water columns and following trends that are also at the whim of a changing global climate.
"Algorithms that work everywhere else in the world – that look at the colour of the ocean to judge how much phytoplankton are there – do not work in the Arctic at all," says Arrigo.
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