Declining ocean greenness and phytoplankton blooms in low to mid-latitudes under a warming climate.

ABSTRACT: Marine phytoplankton are crucial to oceanic ecosystems, yet trends in their activity, monitored through chlorophyll a, remain uncertain due to observational limitations. We generated an ocean chlorophyll a dataset (2001 to 2023) across low to mid-latitudes (45°N to 45°S) using multisource data and a deep learning approach. Our analysis suggests widespread decline in ocean greenness, with chlorophyll a concentrations decreasing at a rate of (-0.35 ± 0.10) × 10^-3 milligrams per cubic meter per year (mg m^-3 year^-1). The decline is steeper in coastal regions [(-0.73 ± 0.22) × 10^-3 mg m^-3 year^-1]. The frequency of high chlorophyll a concentration events in coastal waters has decreased at a relative rate of -1.78% per year. These

SUBMITTER: Hong Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12533578 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature