University of Galway leads research into effect of tiny ocean organisms on climate change

The University of Galway is leading an international expedition to research the effect tiny ocean organisms have on climate change. 

The expedition was carried out on The Marine Institute’s Celtic Explorer with the help of Canadian researchers and the SFI Research Centre for Applied Geosciences.   

The study followed up on previous research from 2022 on the Biological Carbon Pump in the Labrador Sea, one of the largest sustained phytoplankton blooms. 

The aim of both studies is to gather information on phytoplankton and calculate their carbon export into the deep sea. 

Professor Brian Ward, who leads the expedition, says phytoplankton are incredibly important to regulate atmospheric carbon dioxide.