The color of the oceans is changing, so maybe in the future we will see the blue sea only on postcards.
The color of the oceans has changed in the last 20 years according to the observations of scientists. A new study published by a British science portal Phys.org showed that satellite images of the oceans today are much more colored in shades of green than they used to be.
According to the study, as much as 56 percent of the ocean surface is greener than 20 years ago. The study attributed the reason for this to human activity.
"Overall, the oceans have become greener over the past 20 years," says the report, published in the journal Nature. Simulations predicting the consequences of climate change on Earth already suggested years ago that the oceans could start to change color. Now scientists have confirmed this.
If such a trend were to continue, the intense blue color of the sea, which is characteristic of tropical places, would only be seen on postcards in some parts of the world.
Although the report does not specify the wider impact of ocean color change on humans, the study notes that the color change is a likely sign that marine life is changing.
"We don't know what is causing this trend. The reason could be organic material, changes in the type and amount of phytoplankton, ... all these aspects can affect the color of the ocean," study co-author Emmanuel Boss told EOS Science, while study co-author Stephanie Dutkiewicz said in a press release for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology added: “That this is actually happening is not surprising, but frightening. And these changes are consistent with human-induced climate change.”
