Global warming will stifle life-giving microscopic plants in the surface layer of the oceans, accelerating climate change, according to a study in Thursday's journal Nature. Besides being the foundation of the marine food chain, phytoplankton remove more than 100 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere daily. As oceans' surface layer heats, it separates from the cooler depths where phytoplankton get many nutrients, diminishing their numbers.
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