plankton and you

Warmer Seas to Wipe Out Plankton, Base of Ocean Life
The study is also potentially devastating because it has thrown up a new "positive feedback" mechanism that could result in more carbon dioxide ending up in the atmosphere to cause a runaway greenhouse effect. The sea is one of nature's "carbon sinks", which removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and deposits the carbon in a long-term store - dissolved in the ocean or deposited as organic waste on the seabed.
"Plankton... forms the basis of the marine food web. Moreover, phytoplankton consumes the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide during photosynthesis," Professor Huisman said. "Uptake of carbon dioxide by phytoplankton across the vast expanses of the oceans reduces the rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere."

Don't worry overmuch about this latest report. Science is all about verification; repeatability of results. I personally would not feel comfortable standing with these global warming alarmists until we've seen the same type of data returned from thirty or forty planets.

Really, using a single, solitary planet for the basis of a "scientific" study of global warming is laughable. Might as well use grandpaw's busted toe to predict storms.

With just one planet in the mix, for all we know, the odd weather of late could be caused by surly Vogons.

Oh freddled gruntbuggly,

Thy micturations are to me

As plurdled gabbleblotchits

On a lurgid bee.

Groop, I implore thee, my foonting turlingdromes

And hooptiously drangle me

with crinkly bindlewurdles,

Or I will rend thee in the gobberwarts with my blurglecruncheon

See if I don't.