Bad news: This substance is rising rapidly in the ocean

There’s some bad news about our Earth lurking in our oceans.

The explosive growth of coccolithophores, a type of phytoplankton, has surprised scientists, and not in a good way, according to a Christian Science Monitor report.

Phytoplankton are micro-organisms that float rather than swim, and they are thriving in the North Atlantic. Scientists had thought that plankton species would actually decline due to rising ocean acidity from climate change, but it appears the high level of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere due to CO2 emissions is causing explosive growth in these tiny organisms based on a new study from researchers at Johns Hopkins University.

In fact, there’s been a ten-fold increase in coccolithophores, which are single-celled algae coated in limestone that have been found in the oceans since 1965, with particularly sharp growth beginning in the 1990s.

Why is this a bad sign? It shows that there are major shifts in the ecosystem of these tiny organisms. By 2100, ocean acidification will cause some species to die out and others to flourish, and coccolithophores appear to be one of the latter. This could upset the delicate ecosystem. At the very least, it indicates that the effects of global warming are here, and already altering our environment.

The rise of this organism indicates that scientists have seen only the tip of the iceberg of the effects of carbon dioxide emissions. They may be a “canary in the coal mine” of the effects of climate change on our planet.

Upcoming meetings in Paris this month between world leaders will attempt to tackle the problem with real solutions. This latest study may indicate that the time to act is now.