New Study Finds That Climate Change Is Turning Our Oceans Green as They Warm Up

Climate change is already having detrimental effects on our oceans, as events like coral bleaching and toxic algae blooms become more common and sea levels continue to rise. A new study just published in the Nature scientific journal documented another troubling trend: the ocean's slow change from blue to green.

The color of the ocean is created by how light reflects off materials found in its upper layers. A deep blue sea has very little life in it, while a green color means certain ecosystems are present. The greenish hue is due to the presence of chlorophyll-containing phytoplankton. Warmer oceans lead to greater phytoplankton growth.

The team of researchers found that from 2002 to 2022, more than 56 percent of the world's oceans have changed color in a way that can't be explained by natural causes. Tropical waters close to the equator, which get the most sunlight and warmth year-round, have been the most affected.

“I’ve been running simulations that have been telling me for years that these changes in ocean color are going to happen,” study co-author and MIT scientist Stephanie Dutkiewicz said in a press release, per CNN. “To actually see it happening for real is not surprising, but frightening. And these changes are consistent with man-induced changes to our climate."

“Changes in color reflect changes in plankton communities that will impact everything that feeds on plankton,” she continued. “It will also change how much the ocean will take up carbon, because different types of plankton have different abilities to do that."

Related: Climate change could force irreversible change in key ocean bacteria

As the world enters catastrophic territory when it comes to mitigating climate change's effects in the coming decades, Dutkiewicz hopes that people around the globe will wake up and realize that the planet is already experiencing unprecedented changes as a result of extreme climate. "We hope people take this seriously," she warned. "It’s not only models that are predicting these changes will happen. We can now see it happening, and the ocean is changing."

Add pristine blue oceans to the long list of things we may have to say goodbye to as climate change continues to ravage the planet.