University of Hawaii at Manoa
Along with nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, iron is essential for the growth of microscopic phytoplankton in the ocean. However, a new study led by oceanographers at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa revealed that iron released from industrial processes, such as coal combustion and steel making, is altering the ecosystem in the North Pacific Transition Zone, a region just north of Hawai‘i that is important for fisheries in the Pacific. The study was published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.
“This is an example of the large-scale impact that human pollution can have on marine ecosystems that are thousands of miles away from the source,” said Nick Hawco, lead author of the study and assistant professor in the Department of Oceanography at the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology.
Iron from human activities billows into the atmosphere and can be carried to distant lands or oceans before being scrubbed from the skies by rain. Industrial iron has previously been detected in the North Pacific Transition Zone, however, it was unclear what effect iron was having on the ecosystem…