Tiny creatures gorge, get fat, and locks up planet-warming carbon

illuminem summarises for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on BBC News or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: New research has revealed that Antarctic zooplankton, including copepods and krill, sequester vast amounts of carbon through their seasonal migrations, locking away an estimated 65 million tonnes of carbon annually
• These tiny creatures gorge on phytoplankton at the surface, build up fat reserves, then sink to the deep ocean to slowly metabolize their stores, delaying the return of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by decades or centuries
• This biological mechanism is equivalent to removing the emissions of roughly 55 million cars per year, according to the study published in Limnology and Oceanography

🔭 The context: Zooplankton have long been known to contribute to ocean carbon sequestration by producing carbon-rich waste that sinks
• But their unique seasonal migration — a “vertical migration pump” — had not been fully quantified until now
• The Southern Ocean already absorbs around 40% of the ocean’s total heat and carbon excess from human activity, but these findings underscore the critical role of its ecosystems
• However, warming seas, changing ocean stratification, and commercial krill harvesting pose increasing risks to this natural carbon sink

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: This discovery highlights the profound yet underappreciated role of marine life in regulating Earth’s climate
• Protecting zooplankton populations is crucial for maintaining the ocean’s capacity to mitigate global warming
• Continued krill harvesting and unchecked ocean warming could undermine this natural service, reinforcing the importance of sustainable fisheries management and stronger climate action to preserve polar ecosystems

⏭️ What's next: Researchers are calling for the inclusion of zooplankton migration dynamics in climate models to improve predictions of atmospheric CO₂ levels
• Further studies are planned to refine understanding of migration cycles and quantify potential impacts of environmental changes
• Policymakers and conservationists face growing pressure to regulate krill fisheries more tightly and protect Antarctic waters from further disruption, as calls grow for marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean

💬 One quote: “If this biological pump didn’t exist, atmospheric CO₂ levels would be roughly twice what they are today.” — Prof Angus Atkinson, co-author

📈 One stat: The seasonal vertical migration of Antarctic zooplankton sequesters 65 million tonnes of carbon annually, comparable to the emissions of about 55 million cars

Click for more news covering the latest on carbon