“Millions of tiny fish pooping
out even tinier turds may have a big impact on climate change.”
Small fish, like anchovies, eat algae that live on the
ocean surface. When they excrete, the carbon in the algae is ‘packaged away’
and dropped to the bottom of the ocean floor.
In a study, scientist measured the
amount of carbon each pellet can contain, and how quickly it is deposited to
the ocean floor. They discovered that fish dung produced at the ocean’s surface
could travel to the ocean floor 1,600 feet below, in less than 1 day. On average,
each pellet of poo contains 22 micrograms of carbon. This number might seem
small, but when multiplied by the trillions and billions of small fish, it
makes a big impact on our environment. The scientist’s findings show that fish fecal
matter can transfer momentous amounts of carbon quickly. These just shows how
even small, seemingly insignificant, things can have a major impact on the
environment.
This is such an interesting topic! Who would have thought fish pellets would have such a major impact on the environment. There are tons of fish in the sea, I agree that 22 micrograms of carbon can go a long way.
ReplyDeleteThis just goes to show that even though it doesn't seem like a large amount of change when you times it by all the fish in the sea it becomes a big number and it can make a large impact on the environment. And if you look at the amount of time that this would happen over makes a huge difference in the environment.
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