Starfish Suck Carbon From the Sea
By Michael Reilly
It's just like the movie "Avatar" — well, sort of.
Starfish, sea urchins, and their brethren are
rising up to fight humanity's greatest wrong to
the Earth: global warming.
Together they are sucking around 100 million
tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year,
according to a new study.
Lots of animals in the ocean sequester carbon
for a living, right down to microscopic
phytoplankton drifting in the water column. In
fact, the tiny critters are so important to the ocean's ecosystem and chemistry that scientists have traditionally paid far
more attention to them than other large groups of carbon-hungry creatures.
Take the phylum Echinodermata — sea cucumbers, sea lilies, urchins, brittle stars and starfish are among the prominent
members of the clan. For years no one thought they had a significant carbon footprint one way or the other, or they
simply didn't bother to find out.
Fortunately Mario Lebrato of the Leibniz Institute of Marine Science in Germany did. He sampled echinoderms from
various locations around the Atlantic Ocean, dried them, cleaned them, and measured them for their carbon content.
"The funding for this was initially derived from my pocket because nobody believed in the echinoderm contribution," he
told Nature.
When extrapolated globally, he found the contribution is indeed significant. While 100 million tons of carbon is only a
tiny fraction of the roughly 5.5 billion tons of carbon the Nature article quotes as humans' annual emissions, it's still
significant. It's likely an underestimate, too, since Lebrato's method probably ignored echinoderm population 'hot spots'
in much of the world.
Remember the climactic scene in "Avatar" (spoiler alert, even though the whole world has already seen it) when the
beasts of Pandora come out of the forest to fight against the evil, intrusive humans? Here I picture millions of
echinoderms trying — trying so hard — to put right the wrongs we humans are doing to the world. In the movie, nature
wins.
In reality? They're probably to going to need our help.
Background on Carbon Levels and Global Warming
Earth's atmosphere contains a higher concentration of carbon dioxide now than it did a century ago; much of this
difference is contributed to the industrial revolution and the use of fossil fuels to power cars and factories and the
destruction of carbon “sinks” like large forests. “The most reliable scientific data show that the concentration of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased from about 320 parts per million in 1960 to more than 380 parts per
million today” (Greenhouse). The ocean can absorb some of the atmospheric CO2 that is emitted in to the atmosphere.
“However, the oceans cannot do this as quickly as the carbon dioxide is being released to the atmosphere, and this time
lag is resulting in increasing concentrations in the atmosphere” (Carbon cycle). Increased levels of carbon dioxide and
other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are linked to a warming planet.
Works Cited
"Carbon cycle." The Gale Encyclopedia of Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. 4th ed. Vol. 1. Detroit:
Gale, 2008. 769-771. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 13 May 2013.
"Echinoderms." Biology. Ed. Richard Robinson. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2010. Science In Context. Web. 13
May 2013.
"Global Warming." Plant Sciences. Ed. Richard Robinson. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2001. Science In Context.
Web. 13 May 2013.
"Greenhouse effect." UXL Encyclopedia of Science. U*X*L, 2011. Science In Context. Web. 13 May 2013.
Reilly, Michael. "Starfish Suck Carbon From the Sea."Discovery News. Discovery Communications, LLC, 07 Jan 2010. Web.
13 May 2013.
Name ______________________________
Per ____ Date _____
Starfish Suck Carbon From the Sea – Analysis Questions
Name ______________________________
Per ____ Date _____
Starfish Suck Carbon From the Sea – Analysis Questions
Directions: Read and analyze the information from Michael Reilly’s article
and answer the following questions.
1. What is the meaning of the word “brethren” in the first paragraph?
Directions: Read and analyze the information from Michael Reilly’s article
and answer the following questions.
1. What is the meaning of the word “brethren” in the first paragraph?
2. What is the meaning of the word “sequester” in the third paragraph?
2. What is the meaning of the word “sequester” in the third paragraph?
3. What is the estimated amount of carbon collected by echinoderms
according to Lebrato’s study versus the estimated amount humans emit
in to the atmosphere?
3. What is the estimated amount of carbon collected by echinoderms
according to Lebrato’s study versus the estimated amount humans emit
in to the atmosphere?
4. What are some natural ways that carbon is emitted in to the
atmosphere during the carbon cycle?
4. What are some natural ways that carbon is emitted in to the
atmosphere during the carbon cycle?
5. What are the repercussions of continued increase in greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere?
5. What are the repercussions of continued increase in greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere?
6. What is the percentage increase in parts per million of carbon dioxide
between 1960 and today. Show your work to get partial credit. [Hint:
you must convert the data in to a fraction and then multiply by 100% to
get the percentage. EX 100/500 = 0.2 * 100 = 20%; then you must figure
out the increase over the last 53 years.] ________________
6. What is the percentage increase in parts per million of carbon dioxide
between 1960 and today. Show your work to get partial credit. [Hint:
you must convert the data in to a fraction and then multiply by 100% to
get the percentage. EX 100/500 = 0.2 * 100 = 20%; then you must figure
out the increase over the last 53 years.] ________________
7. What does Reilly mean by the following sentence: “In reality? They're
probably to going to need our help.”
7. What does Reilly mean by the following sentence: “In reality? They're
probably to going to need our help.”