Ocean pigment changes – Science Poetry

Edge extension
The grey of the past
attract
Old Plankton map.
A blue place,
A green seam
Dismissal,
Northward line
Nothing
net.
Each expansion carries
Drift line echo:
The hungry anchor,
The bloom of the drifter.
No signal,
Just a reshape –
shoal
Current,
Sliding pattern
From a hinge
another.
Then go down,
Fish Shadow
Turn,
But don’t look back –
Never come back.

The poem is inspired by recent research that found that the ocean is getting greener near the poles and bluer in the subtropical zone.

Changes in ocean color are one of the most obvious signs of transferring marine ecosystems in a warming world, and over the past two decades, the colors of our oceans have changed. The green tone is getting closer to the poles, while the subtropical water turns dark blue. This change is not just a visual effect. Instead, it marks a transition to phytoplankton – microbials at the bottom of the marine food network. Like plants on land, phytoplankton grows using sunlight. But as the oceans warm, the way they grow is changing. These changes are important because phytoplankton supports marine ecosystems and helps absorb carbon dioxide. As a result, their thriving shifts could affect marine life, the fishing industry and coastal communities.

In this study, researchers used satellite data to measure ocean color from 2003 to 2022. This allows them to track chlorophyll, a key marker for phytoplankton. Their results indicate a clear trend: chlorophyll levels rise near the poles and fall in the subtropical zone. In particular, this pattern is most pronounced in the Northern Hemisphere. Thus, the growing contrast (described as “green and blue blue”) reveals an expansion of ocean productivity. Furthermore, this shift in phytoplankton may ripple through food webs and alter the balance of the ecosystem. These changes could have broad implications, ranging from reducing fish stocks to destroying economies. Ultimately, understand how a warm ocean can reshape life in the ocean and what that means for the future.