Scientists have discovered a catastrophic loss of life in our oceans… This is really bad. It’s the very bottom of the food chain…
An Edinburgh-based research team fears plankton, the tiny organisms that sustain life in our seas, has all but been wiped out after spending two years collecting water samples from the Atlantic.
The landmark research blames chemical pollution from plastics, farm fertilisers and pharmaceuticals in the water. Previously, it was thought the amount of plankton had halved since the 1940s, but the evidence gathered by the Scots suggest 90% has now vanished.
The scientists warn there are only a few years left before the consequences become catastrophically clear when fish, whales and dolphins become extinct, with grave implications for the planet. In the report, the researchers from the Global Oceanic Environmental Survey Foundation (Goes) state: “An environmental catastrophe is unfolding. We believe humanity could adapt to global warming and extreme weather changes. It is our view that humanity will not survive the extinction of most marine plants and animals.”
The findings have prompted calls for urgent action on a number of fronts as observers warn the promises of Cop26 to ease the climate crisis have, so far, amounted to little.
Fiona Nicholls, an oceans campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said: “Our oceans can be our allies in fighting climate change, but there is simply no time to waste.”
What if all plankton disappeared?
Goes – based at Edinburgh University’s Roslin Innovation Centre in Midlothian – has been collecting samples from the Atlantic and the Caribbean from its yacht, Copepod. Setting out from Scotland, it sailed along French and Portuguese coasts before crossing the Atlantic. The yacht is currently moored in Cartagena, Colombia, before setting sail for Panama this week.
In addition to their own samples, the Goes researchers have provided monitoring equipment to other sailing boat crews so that they can perform the same trawls and report back with their results.
The team, led by marine biologist and former Scottish Government adviser Dr Howard Dryden, has compiled and analysed information from 13 vessels and more than 500 data points.
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Now they have alerted the scientific community to their findings and are appealing for the troubling implications to be understood and acted upon before it is too late.
This video shows the role of phytoplankton and why these plant-like organisms play such a crucial role in life on Earth. They fuel ocean life by feeding other plankton, fish, and ultimately bigger creatures:
Plankton is made up of the billions of marine creatures and plants that drift in the currents of oceans and seas. The category covers a huge variety of species, many of them microscopic. However, they are fundamental to life on Earth as they form the bottom rung of the food chain. Plankton is consumed by the krill which are fed on by the fish that, in turn, provide nutrition for terrestrial animals including billions of humans.
Numerous types also perform a vital role in regulating climate change by helping oceans absorb carbon dioxide and giving off the chemical dimethyl sulphide, which assists in creating clouds.
But plankton needs the right conditions to thrive, including water that is slightly alkaline. However, the oceans are slowly turning more acidic.
An overload of CO2, along with a deluge of lethal manmade chemicals in cosmetics, plastics, sunscreen, drugs and fertilisers, is inundating the marine environment. This brew is proving toxic to underwater life and once the water reaches a tipping point of acidity, vast amounts of plankton will simply dissolve.
Every year, 18 million tons of heavy oil fuel is spilt into the seas by the shipping industry and breaks up into tiny particles that are toxic to plankton.
Citing previous studies, Goes researchers had been expecting to discover 20 such microscopic specks per litre of Atlantic water – but actually counted between 100 and 1,000.
They expected to find up to five visible pieces of plankton in every 10 litres of water – but found an average of less than one. The discovery suggests that plankton faces complete wipe-out sooner than was expected.
The Goes report concludes: “If we destroy plankton, the planet will become more humid, accelerate climate change, and with no clouds it will also become arid and wind velocities will be extreme.
“Yes, of course, we need to continue to reduce CO2 emissions but even if we were carbon-neutral, it will not stop ocean acidification – it will not stop the loss of all the seals, whales, marine birds, fish and food supply for two billion people.
“CO2 reduction won’t even stop climate change; indeed, we will have catastrophic climate change because we have not fixed the primary root cause – the destruction of nature by toxic chemicals and substances such as plastic.
“We have two choices. We can choose to wake up, understand and address the real issue or choose the game-over button for humanity come 2050.”
From his ongoing mission in Colombia, Dryden – who addressed the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow last year – told The Sunday Post: “Based on our observations, plankton numbers have already crashed and are now at the levels that I predicted would not happen for another quarter of a century.
“Given that plankton is the life-support system for the planet and humanity cannot survive without it, the result is disturbing. It will be gone in around 25 years. Our results confirmed a 90% reduction in primary productivity in the Atlantic. Effectively, the Atlantic Ocean is now pretty much dead.
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“We surveyed the Caribbean from St Lucia to Grenada. Now the only fish available in restaurants there is imported farmed Atlantic salmon.
“It had been reported that 50% of the coral was gone; our observations were that the coral is 100% gone in many locations and 90% gone in all locations.”
Why are plankton the most vital organisms on Earth?
Dryden says the first step for survival is for us all to truly understand the peril our species is in – and then do our bit in saving nature so it can save us.
And everyone – from families, farmers and financiers to scientists and supermarkets, ministers and multinationals – has a part to play.
He explained: “We cannot stop climate change by simply reducing CO2 emissions. However, we can clean up our pollution to give us clean air and clear rivers and bring life back to the oceans. We could potentially live with climate change, but we will not survive the destruction of nature. If we can bring back nature, though, we also solve climate change.”
He said that during the pandemic, because of the lack of tourism, ecosystems had started to recover. Fish have returned and coral reefs have recovered.
Dryden added: “People cause pollution, and in most of the world there is no effluent treatment. Covid has shown us that if we eliminate pollution then ecosystems have high capacity to spring back.”
Calum Duncan, head of Scottish conservation at the Marine Conservation Society, said: “There are multiple drivers for ocean decline, including climate change, pollution, overfishing and unsustainable development.
“We need to tackle the climate and nature emergencies together by transforming both our land and sea use toward a truly sustainable and circular model.
“That includes turning off the tap on all damaging pollutants, both atmospheric and waterborne, and suitably protecting all of our ocean. However, with less than 1% of our seas under high levels of protection, we have a long way to go.”
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Earlier this month, at the UN Ocean Conference in Portugal, 150 nations signed a declaration emphasising the importance of conserving the seas. But campaigners say concrete action is now needed at next month’s IGC5 summit in New York, at which negotiators will try to hammer out the wording of a treaty to protect global waters.
Nicholls warned: “If a treaty is not finalised next month, it will be almost impossible to reverse the damage to the world’s oceans.”
Scotland has inflicted terrible damage on its seas, according to the research team’s leader.
Dr Howard Dryden said: “Scotland has already wiped out most of its fish, deep-water coral and polluted most of the coast. Trawling has destroyed seagrass, the loss of which is equivalent to the UK aviation carbon budget. The marine mammals in Scotland are among the most toxic on the planet.
“Scotland could set an example to the rest of the world and declare the country a non-toxic environment. Currently, we have a combined storm water and sewer system, so when it rains the municipal treatment systems are by-passed.
“This means we may only be treating as little as a quarter of our waste water.”
The marine biologist added: “We will not stop making plastic but the new forms should be non-toxic and biodegradable.
“We need to turn to regenerative agriculture. We have already wiped out 80% of all insects and 100% will be gone in 20 years, then agriculture collapses because there is no pollination.”
They are already talking about ocean seeding for a few years now:
A 2020 report found that, every year, 200 million pieces of macroplastics are flushed into the seas around Scotland through its rivers. A further 24.7 billion specks of microplastics also contaminate coastal waters with nearly half of it settling beneath the waves, where it enters the marine food chain.
State-owned Scottish Water is responsible for sewage treatment but admits it cannot monitor or treat all the pollutants in waste water.
Between 2016 and 2021, the equivalent of 47,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools full of untouched waste were discharged into Scotland’s rivers and seas via a network of 3,700 overflow pipes.
So-called tertiary treatment can get rid of more than 90% of the toxins – but is not always fitted. Some of the partially treated sludge is used as farm manure, meaning the pollutants find their way back into the food chain.
In addition, around 150,000 tons of artificial fertilisers are tipped on to Scotland’s fields each year. However, their overuse degrades soils and the excess washes into rivers, eventually adding to ocean acidification.
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Regenerative agriculture looks to avoid fertilisers and the pesticides that are devastating bee numbers.
Farmers are finding they can increase their profits by cultivating healthy soils.
Scottish Water has tertiary treatment at 139 waste water treatment plants. But it claimed it could not afford to retrofit the technology across the board and questioned the ecological benefits: “The challenge of protecting our rivers, coastal waters and oceans is one we share with communities.
“Everyone can play a crucial role in preventing sewer blockages, flooding and the risk of debris reaching the marine environment by ensuring they do not flush items containing plastic such as wet wipes down toilets, or dispose of cooking fat down drains.”
Nathan Critchlow-Watton, head of water and planning at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, said that since 2010, £686 million had been spent on upgrading waste water treatment works and sewer outfalls.
The Scottish Government said: “This year we will publish our refreshed Marine Litter Strategy with an action plan to further reduce sources including macro and microplastics. We also provide financial support to farmers, to help minimise the environmental impact on water quality.” [SundayPost]
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ME, they spray all that crap in the sky to fog our visibility of the sun. Nibiru is coming at us from that direction. Folks who have seen it say it’s at about the 4 o’clock position. Hard to see without filter, as the glare of the sun hides it most of the time. guess sunrise and sunset best time to spot it. One dude in Italy takes photos all the time. As it gets closer it will directly in front of sun. Impossible to see until it gets close on its passage past the earth on its way out of the solar system. That’s when we get the Pole Shift.
2 Peter 3:10 KJVS
[10] But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
I often wondered when reading this verse, why is such a drastic measures necessary. Reading this article, and other articles regarding depleted uranium stored above nuclear reactors, Fukushima disaster, and The sheer scale oh how we have polluted the planet, seems rather obvious that all works of man have to be burned up.
The “wormwood” of Revelation is represented in the Wormwood, uh, I mean Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant meltdown of 1986. “Chernobyl” is Ukrainian for wormwood.
Earth is now at expiration date. And considering the state of this world, thank God! Maranatha!
If true, then we should be seeing mass deaths of certain marine mammals that depend on these organisms as their sole source of food. But we aren’t seeing that. More BS.
Bingo! Dano.
Scientists estimate that 50-80% of the oxygen production on Earth comes from the ocean
humans never respected the planet or other life forms. believing humans are the only life form worthwhile. humans do not deserve the planet. they have failed as caretakers.
Reminds me of the story “Earth’s Final Hour!” in issue 86 in 1970 of the DC comic book The Justice League of America. Mass teleportation of Terran plankton to another planet whose ecology was for dramatic purposes all messed up. Script by Michael Friedrich based on plot by Dennis O’Neil so of course capitalism ultimately to blame. Great art by Richard Dillin & Joseph Giella though. A Julius Schwartz editing triumph.
8.1 PH is alkali.
Don’t know what happen but site deletes my comments now. Phony commie site.
Please cease the Green Agenda dribble.
No mention in this article of nuclear testing, blasts, chemical rockets, etc destroying the ozone layer. Dane Wiginton reports on this at geoeneeringwatch.org and on YouTube. See:
UVC: The Sterilization of Planet Earth, Part One
And part 2,
Imminent Ozone Layer Collapse, A Dire Warning From A Former NASA Contract Engineer
I watched a video of Dane testing UV radiation, which showed uvB to be the most prominent at around 60% of incoming rays, the official figure is <5%. That was in 2014, but here from 2012, is a long forgotten BBC report on the effects of uvB on the oceans.
https://web.archive.org/web/20180915190304/http://www.bbc.co.uk:80/nature/19170802
I believe that the increase in uvB is down to cyclical changes in the Sun in conjunction with the grand solar minimum. Plankton live near the surface of the ocean. The increased evaporation will reach a tipping point where the Sun cannot penetrate the cloud cover and the Earth will cool rapidly bringing about a prolonged period of cold weather. The last event of this nature was the 'Dalton Minimum' circa 1785- 1830.
I'd like to see Dane's uv monitoring performed again, does anyone know if this has been done and published ?
Fuckushima is still contaminating/killing the oceans and there is valid no plan on how to stop it.
I am a hard core free market advocate. The amount of plastic pollution is probably the largest problem we face in regard to nature. Soil degradation is second. The thing is market based solutions are available for both but the government is not interested in fixing these problems. Bureaucrats only seek power, not solutions. They are busy trying to plunder Ukraine and Russia’s natural resources.
Climates change. History and science tell us this. Solving the plastics problem and soil problem is THE determining factor for us.
the answer is , the world financial elites … they got rich from the dawn of industrialisation by dumping chemical toxic waste just like that ..and poisoned the atmosphere …. uncontrolled … and NOW they try to blame us , with nitrogen and carbons bullshit …. its the by them invented consumer society where good products arnt made anymore and if you finally find something that actually does what it promises, it self destructs becouse its build flimsy..so u have to buy new..
its not you or me … the world financial elites are to blame for every shit on this world…
Author failed to put all the heavy metals that are sprayed into our atmosphere #1 on the list of causes (it’s NOT the CO2, folks). Metals like aluminum, barium, strontium, etc. are being sprayed all across the globe each and every day and all that toxic garbage lands on EVERYTHING. And to all the ignorant nay-sayers: Germany admitted they do it, Spain just recently admitted they do it, and if you call NASA, they’ll tell you they do it. They’re all going along with the lie that Earth needs to be shielded from the sun. Ha! All those heavy metals in the air are making everything hotter!! Go to GeoEngineeringWatch.org for more info.
shut down pharma
Yes this is fake science!
Plankton : Dunaliella viridis algae turns the sun’s energy into oxygen.
Increase CO2 ASAP!!!!!
Revelation 16:3
[New American Standard Bible]
“The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea died.”
Soylent Green (1973)
[Charlton Heston as Detective Robert Thorn]
“The ocean is dying, plankton is dying. There is no plankton.”
If God says it, you can be sure of it, even if you don’t understand it.
FUKUSHIMA AS PREDICTED 11 YEARS AGO.
Yes. Extinction is looming.
Sounds like more horseshit science.
It sure does.
GREENPEACE????
F those freaks. They use DIESEL power boats to destroy other boats.
They are a TERRORIOST group PERIOD.
Terrorist