A White Battle in the Black Sea
Image Credit: NASA, Aqua, MODIS
Explanation: Trillions have died in the Earth's seas. Calcified shields of the dead already make up the
white cliffs of Dover. The battle between
ball-shaped light-colored single-celled plants --
phytoplankton called
coccolithophores -- and even smaller, diamond-shaped viruses dubbed coccolithoviruses -- has raged for tens of millions of years. To help fight
this battle, the coccolithophores create their
chalky armor by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
This battle is so epic that coccolithophores actually remove a significant fraction of
Earth's atmospheric carbon dioxide, bolstering the
breathability of air for animals including
humans. Pictured in
this 2012 image from NASA's
Aqua satellite, the
Black Sea was turned light blue by
coccolithophore blooms.
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