Life in the Ocean
by James W. Nybakkn and Steven K. Webster
|
Source: Scienctific American
|
Notes:
Summary: 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by oceans! About 4 billion years ago, life emerged from the oceans. There only has been 250,000 species identified that live in the ocean, meaning that there's more yet to be discovered! The mey to the food chain is cold, heavy water and richly supplied with nutrients. In the ocean, the temperature and depth play is an important tole in the availability of the oxygen. Marine biologists know a little information about the organisms that live down in the cold, dark regions of the ocean.
Reflection: While reading this article I learned that there is a lot of creatures to be identify in the ocean that haven't been found. The ocean is a beautiful mystery, a mystery that we are destroying little by little. Since we burn fossil fuels we created tons of carbon dioxide that is later exposed to the atmosphere and later absorbed by the ocean. The excess of carbon dioxide in the ocean kills coral reef and decreases the oxygen in the ocean, which later on marine life die.
- 71% of earth's surface is covered by oceans.
- Life emerged from the oceans 4 billion years ago.
- Organisms that live in the ocean, only 250,000 species have been identified
- Seawater is about 800 times as dense as air and is much more viscous
- A few hundred meters deeper there is no sunlight at all and no photosynthesis.
- Cold, heavy water that is the key to the food chain, and it is richly supplied with nutrients
- Oxygen enters only at or near the surface
- Temperature and depth play an important role in the availability of oxygen.
- Marine biologists know little about the organisms that live down in those cold, dark regions.
- Marine snow-food for these organisms arrives in the unending shower of organic particles.
Summary: 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by oceans! About 4 billion years ago, life emerged from the oceans. There only has been 250,000 species identified that live in the ocean, meaning that there's more yet to be discovered! The mey to the food chain is cold, heavy water and richly supplied with nutrients. In the ocean, the temperature and depth play is an important tole in the availability of the oxygen. Marine biologists know a little information about the organisms that live down in the cold, dark regions of the ocean.
Reflection: While reading this article I learned that there is a lot of creatures to be identify in the ocean that haven't been found. The ocean is a beautiful mystery, a mystery that we are destroying little by little. Since we burn fossil fuels we created tons of carbon dioxide that is later exposed to the atmosphere and later absorbed by the ocean. The excess of carbon dioxide in the ocean kills coral reef and decreases the oxygen in the ocean, which later on marine life die.