The Oceans

Basics

Unit 3
Gases from phytoplankton

It was originally thought that the oceans and the atmosphere acted independently but we now know that both have a huge influence on each other.  In this Unit we look at how phytoplankton living in the oceans affect our climate.  We think that these tiny single celled plants emit almost as much sulphur into the air as do all the power stations on Earth put together!  We concentrate on the gas dimethyl sulphide (DMS) which is probably the most important gas produced biologically.  We look at how and why this gas is produced and why it is so important to our climate.  We also look at other climatically important gases which are formed in seawater and how these are involved in global warming and ozone depletion in the stratosphere.