Greenland’s mile-thick ice sheet annually loses about 270 billion tons of ice, causing a surge in tiny ocean life. A new NASA-backed study found that the meltwater from glaciers acts like an elevator, lifting crucial nutrients to the sunlit surface, boosting phytoplankton growth by 15% to 40%. This effect could have implications for the marine ecosystem and the global carbon cycle. Scientists used powerful computer models to simulate the relationships between ocean physics and marine life, allowing researchers to study how melting glaciers affect the ecosystem.
The study team plans to expand its simulations to understand the impact along the Greenland coast and beyond. However, scientists are unsure whether this boost in phytoplankton will have a long-term positive effect on marine life and fisheries. The findings were reported in the journal Nature Communications: Earth & Environment.
Source: https://interestingengineering.com/science/supercomputer-reveals-ice-melt-fuels-ocean-life