Plankton are one of the most important types of creatures on our entire planet and their habits are changing.
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00:00Plankton may be tiny, but their value to our planet's ecosystem is paramount.
00:10Which is why researchers are particularly concerned with new evidence that shows plankton
00:13might start migrating towards the poles if ocean temperatures rise only a few degrees.
00:18So why are plankton so important?
00:20Well to start, they're the second most plentiful organism on the entire planet, outpaced only
00:25by bacteria, meaning if plankton die off.
00:27Typically so would every single other marine species in existence.
00:30But what's more, phytoplanktons sequester carbon and are one of the top oxygen producers
00:35for the planet, meaning changes in their habitats or distribution is a major concern to scientists.
00:40Experts say that if ocean surface temperatures get higher than 77 degrees Fahrenheit, zooplankton
00:45would move away from tropics towards the poles, meaning at least some of the phytoplankton
00:49that are already there would be replaced, up to 40%.
00:53Species diversity is usually a good thing, but not so much when we can't quantify its impacts
00:57on the environment and worldwide ecosystems, which the researchers say could pose a threat
01:01to already established ecosystems already living closer to the poles, as the current polar
01:06plankton are of the larger varieties, are a food source for marine life there, and feature
01:11a greater carbon sink than their smaller equatorial counterparts.