Tiny creature gorges, gets fat, and locks up planet-warming carbon

A small and mysterious animal is often sold as the pelvic food quietly protects our planet from global warming by doing epic migration, according to the new research.

These “unknown heroes” call animal plankton themselves and grow fat in the spring before drowning hundreds of meters in the deep ocean in Antarctica where they burn fat.

This closes a lot of carbon that cultivates the planet, such as annual emissions, which amounts to about 55 million gasoline cars, which prevents them from raising the temperature of the atmosphere, according to researchers.

This is much more than scientists expected. But as researchers reveal this service to our planet, animal plankton threats grow.

Scientists have spent years searching for the annual immigration of animals in the waters of Antarctica, or the southern ocean, and what it means to change climate.

The main author, Dr. Guang Yang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, says, adding that he imposes rethinking the amount of carbon in the southern ocean stores.

“Animals are an unknown hero because they have such a wonderful way of life,” says co -author Dr. Jennifer Freer from the British Antarctic Survey.

But compared to the most popular animals in Antarctica such as whale or penguin, small, but great animal plankton is overlooked.

If anyone has heard about it, this may be a kind of fish available for purchase online.

But their life cycle is strange and wonderful. Take Copepod, which is a type of animal plankton that is far from a farm and cork cancer.

Only 1-10 mm size, they spend most of their lives asleep between 500 meters to 2 km in the ocean.

Professor Daniel, mayor, who portrayed her on the Antarctica, explains in the photos taken under a microscope, you can see the long sausage of fats inside their bodies, and fat bouquets in their heads.

Without them, the atmosphere of our planet will be greatly warmer.

On the global level, the oceans absorbed 90 % of the excess heat that humans created by burning fossil fuels. From this figure, the southern ocean is responsible for about 40 %, and many of this belong to animal plankton.

Millions of pounds are spent worldwide to understand how to store carbon exactly.

Scientists have already realized that animal plankton contributed to storing carbon in a daily process when carbon -rich waste in the deep ocean was drowned.

But what happened when animals migrate in the southern ocean were not measured.

The latest research focused on Copeps, as well as other types of animal plankton called Krill, and Salps.

Creatures eat vegetarian plankton on the surface of the ocean, which grow by converting carbon dioxide into a living substance through optical representation. This turns into fat in animal plankton.

Professor Daniel, mayor of the University of Exter, who was not part of the study, explains: “Fat like a battery pack. When they spend the winter in the ocean depth, they sit and slowly burn these fats or carbon.”

“This releases carbon dioxide,” he says.

According to the research team, this process – which is called seasonal vertical deportation pump – transports 65 million tons of carbon annually to at least 500 meters below the surface of the ocean.

From that, it was found that Copeps molds contribute more than others, followed by Krill and Salps.

This is almost equivalent to emissions from driving 55 million diesel cars for a year, According to the greenhouse gases calculator by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Another research in the data that extends to the twenties of the twentieth century to determine this carbon storage, is also called carbon insulation.

But the scientific discovery continues as researchers seek to understand more details about the deportation cycle.

Earlier this year, Dr. Farir and the municipality spent two months on the Sir David Attenburo Antarctic Research, near South Orange and South Georgia.

Using large networks, scientists caught animal plankton and brought animals on board.

“We worked in complete darkness under the red light, so we didn’t get bother,” says Dr. Ferreer.

“Others have worked in the rooms that were kept at 3-4 degrees Celsius. She wears a lot of protection to stay there for hours every time you look at the bottom of the microscope.”

But warm water as well as the commercial harvest of Kreil can threaten the future of animal plankton.

Professor Atkinson explains: “Climate change, ocean -layer disorder and severe weather are all threats.”

This can reduce the amount of animal plankton in the Antarctica and reduce carbon stored in the depths of the ocean.

Krill fishing companies won nearly half a million tons of Krill in 2020, According to the United Nations.

It is allowed under international law, but was criticized by environmental activists, including in David Attenburo’s documentary, the last ocean.

Scientists say that their new results must be combined into climate models that predict the warmth of our planet.

“If this biological pump is not present, the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will be almost as weak as it is at the present time. So the oceans do a very good job in cleansing and disposing of carbon dioxide,” the co -author, Professor Angus Atkinson.

The research has been published in Limnology and Oceanic.