Harvard researchers help solve mystery of the Arctic’s green ice
In 2011, researchers observed something that should be impossible — a massive bloom of phytoplankton growing under Arctic sea ice in conditions that should have been far too dark for anything requiring photosynthesis to survive. So, how was this bloom possible? Using mathematical modeling, researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) found that thinning Arctic sea ice may be responsible for these and more blooms in the future, and could potentially cause significant disruption in the Arctic food chain. The research is described in Science Advances and is a collaboration between researchers from SEAS, University of Oxford, and University of Reading. Phytoplankton underpins the entire Arctic food web. Every summer, when the sea ice retreats, sunlight hitting the open water triggers a massive bloom of plankton. The plankton plumes attract fish, which attract larger predators and provide food for indigenous communities living in the Arctic. Phytoplankton shouldn’t...