Faulty Research Paper Leads to Unfounded Claims About Health of Atlantic Ocean
SciCheck Digest
Climate change has affected ocean ecosystems, scientists say. But an unfounded claim on social media that “plankton in the Atlantic Ocean is 90% gone” and the ocean is “now pretty much dead” is based on a faulty paper.
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The world’s oceans have changed over the last several decades. Climate change has warmed the surface water and caused the sea level to rise, for example.
But some social media accounts that post about environmental issues have made the unfounded claim, “Plankton in the Atlantic Ocean is 90% gone.”
— the catchall term for small marine plants, phytoplankton, and animals, zooplankton — serve two in the ecosystem. They are a major source of
