Climate Changed

Researchers exploring the world’s polar oceans are witnessing major biological changes

Frazil ice and floes in the Southern Ocean © Kerry Steinberner/Australian Antarctic Division​

The oceans play a massive role in regulating the planet’s overall health. Tiny organisms that live in the ocean, called phytoplankton or microscopic algae, produce somewhere between 40 and 80 percent of the planet’s oxygen (depending on which scientist you ask). There’s a reason, after all…