Ocean’s ‘twilight zone’ is affecting Earth’s climate

Ocean’s ‘twilight zone’ is affecting Earth’s climate

It may not be a dimension as vast as space nor as timeless as infinity, but the ocean’s “twilight zone” is affecting Earth’s climate, due to the heavy presence of phytoplankton in the region.

NASA scientists are venturing into the ocean’s “twilight zone” to explore how phytoplankton are affecting Earth’s climate. Phytoplankton, which have been described by NASA as “nature’s watercolors,” remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere via photosynthesis. Although scientists understand how the carbon is captured, they do not yet understand where it eventually goes, nor how long it stays there, especially when the phytoplankton die or become food for other creatures.

A team of over 100 scientists is working to understand where the carbon goes, in a project known as Export Processes in the Ocean from Remote Sensing (EXPORTS). The scientists will use underwater robots, satellite imagery and two research vessels, as they set sail on a month-long journey 200 miles west from Seattle into the northeastern Pacific Ocean.