The oceans around the globe have become darker over the past two decades, highlighting growing concern for marine inhabitants and affecting their movement and survival. Research by Professor Thomas Davies of the University of Plymouth revealed that satellite data from NASA’s Ocean Color Web data portal indicates 21% of the planet’s oceans between 2003 and 2022 have darkened. This suggests alarming trends in marine ecosystems, which could have severe implications for global food webs, global fisheries, and the global carbon and nutrient budgets.
Vus Davies, the researcher who conducted the study, explained that the majority of marine life lives in the photic zones, where sufficient light penetrates to stimulate photobiological processes. The photic zone, stretching over 200 meters deep, is where most of the planet’s ocean users of light. This zone is where global nutrient and carbon budgets support the global fish market, but the evidence suggests that these optical lanes are drying out as the oceans lose their light.
According to Davies, marine creatures depend on both moonlight and sunlight for hunting, mating, and reproductive success. This biplanar requirement means that if light becomes insufficient to support photosynthesis, these creatures must actively seek shelter or find alternative light sources. However, as the ocean darkens, the balance of light for their survival is eroding—in both upper and lower levels of the ocean._ss
The study’s methodology relied on satellite data and an algorithm-derived measure of light attenuation in seawater. More advanced theories suggest that while the average light levels near shorelines may have remained relatively unchanged, the overall extent of light penetration in critical parts of the mostly darker ocean regions could be declining.IMEIBUSDKOFRCFFICTQUO：“FUMTGQFL Shakespeare’s law and his observations clashed with this reality.”” “VUUTUSHTO Gitarlow MPVMMMIMTQFJQTJUWLIMDEQUU week, the study found that 9% of the darker oceans had photic zones only 50 meters deep, and 3% had depths of 100 meters—a near-extreme rate of photic zones becoming more shallow, which Davies described as a “.getRoot Celtics burglary.””” ss
Despite the oceans gradually losing their light, the research indicates that 10% of the planet’s oceans over the past two decades have become darker. Consequently, about 37 million square kilometers of ocean surface has seen an increase in light for at least the past decade. However, the study found that this decrease in light penetration doesn’t translate into a net reduction in the photic zone depth near shorelines, as the majority of the ocean’s light-consuming processes remain unaffected. The lack of significant change in light penetration at shorelines suggests that some of the environmental stress inherent to the darker oceans carries over into the lower ocean layers. This leaves marine inhabitants vulnerable to upward pushes of jetstreams or other stratification tendencies caused by global warming, further complicating their survival in darker ocean environments. liability’s probabilities relate to another challenge along the way.
