Geek Cool:

Unexpected macroscopic effects from microscopic life

Well, this is certainly not something I had ever thought of:

Phytoplankton may be small, but that doesn't mean they can't do big things -- like change the weather to suit their needs.

A recent study funded by NASA's Earth Science Department shows that the tiny sea plants release high quantities of cloud-forming compounds on days when the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays are especially strong. The compounds evaporate into the air through a series of chemical processes that result in especially reflective clouds. This, in turn, blocks the radiation from bothering the phytoplankton.

The findings not only confirm earlier theories that plankton are linked to the creation of clouds above the ocean but could also lead to a better understanding of how living things affect the Earth's climate.

"The take-home message is that all the processes that are going on in the ocean and the climate are very tightly connected," said David Siegel, co-author of the study and director of the Institute for Computational Earth System Science in Santa Barbara, California. "This is really the impetus for other researchers to look into the whole cycle of how biology and climate interact."

Siegel and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution researcher Dierdre Toole announced the results of their study in the May issue of the Geophysical Research Letters, a scientific journal.