Most Active Stories Sun September 30, 2012 A Tiny Ocean World
With A Mighty Important Future Originally published on Sun
September 30, 2012 5:11 pm As you take in your next breath of
air, you can thank a form of microscopic marine life known as
plankton. They are so small as to be invisible, but taken
together, actually dwarf massive creatures like whales. Plankton
make up 98 percent of the biomass of ocean life. "This invisible
forest generates half of the oxygen generated on the planet,"
Chris Bowler, a marine biologist, tells Guy Raz, host of
weekends on All Things Considered. And, as climate change alters
the temperature and acidity of our waters, this mysterious ocean
world may be in jeopardy. It's Bowler's mission to learn as much
as possible about plankton — before the tiny creatures
disappear. Bowler is the scientific coordinator of an around-
the-world voyage named the Tara Oceans expedition. Aboard an
118-foot schooner, a team of marine scientists culled the
world's waters for 21/2 years, studying pl