Overview

Phytoplanktons, better known as algae or seaweed, are aquatic photosynthetic pericellular and unicellular species that are found in freshwater and saltwater. In comparison with other flora and fauna, phytoplankton has a distinct classification. This kind of infaunal species is distinguished by the lack of roots, stems or leaves. Furthermore, it does not have a vascular system that circulates water and other nutrients.

Chlorophyll world map from NASA

Many studies have demonstrated that these infaunal communities are highly sensitive to sediment changes, such as pollution, physical disturbances and organic enrichment. This type of environmental disturbances are related to climate change, besides being one of the main causes of the increasing frequency of natural disasters.

NASA melting ice caps

The problem of an excessive bloom of phytoplankton lies in how harmful they are to their ecosystems, and that is the reason for them being called harmful algal blooms (HABs). As they bloom, there is a decrease in oxygen available for other aquatic species, in addition, sunlight can not reach deeper levels into the ocean causing respiratory problems in some fish and shellfish. Some species of Dinoflagellate, a microorganism part of phytoplankton, produce neurotoxins. These toxins affect aquatic life and also have a direct consequence on terrestrial species that consume aquatic animals, including humans [4].

The way Earth works is similar to the human body, therefore, there exists a need to be in continuous homeostasis in order to function properly. If something changes or there is a disturbance, there will be substantial alterations in all trophic chains and biochemical metabolisms. One clear example of these disturbances is the imbalance caused by excessive algae bloom.

Causes

Bloom is highly related to the administration of nutrients (N, P and trace metals), sunlight, temperature, oxidative stress species, interactions with other biological species (bacteria, viruses) [1]. Besides, specific factors for each section around the world as the different ecosystems (turbidity), hydrology (water flux, water tank levels) and water chemistry (pH, conductivity, salinity, carbon availability) makes growth prediction a difficult task to model mathematically [3].

Although a change in temperature of the water is considered as an important factor of increases HABs incidence, it is not the global cause of bloom [7]. However, these changes in temperature have been directly related to the polar ice caps melting, which have important consequences in the nitrogen cycle. For example, high nitrate concentrations recorded in Greenland increased by a factor of 2-3 [8] and in the chlorophyll world map of NASA Earth Observations (NEO), it shows a high density of phytoplankton in this area.

The increase in the production of CO2 and ocean acidification has been related to an increase in harmful algal bloom too. As a consequence, high algae production zones will create an acid medium due to the carbon cycle and its metabolism, thus creating a cycle that is related to ocean acidification [12].

The exponential human population growth, along with agricultural and industrial development, produces high levels of nutrient generation. This excess, along with the excessive production of organic matter within the “cultural eutrophication”, has led to a bunch of several biogeochemical and ecological consequences, having as the most worrisome as the harmful phytoplankton bloom [11].

Phosphorus cycle (Paerl, 2018)

Nutrients cycle

Consequences / impact

Health problems

It has been established that excessive phytoplankton bloom is highly related to public health problems since intoxication from seafood is becoming more common. Therefore, people who change their diet to a healthy one to avoid heart issues, are exposed to be under intoxication, since this class of diet includes a significant quantity of fish that contains Omega-3 [5].

On the other hand, the increase of nitrite and the constant light exposition (due to equinoxes) is related to the fact that there is a high bloom and migrations of phytoplankton in Greenland. The problem is, seaweed produces an opaque pigment which produces a decrease in albedo and as a consequence, an increase in ultraviolet radiation on Earth [9]. This increase in radiation elevates the chances of cancer development and multiple chronic degenerative diseases in humans [10].

Solutions

We developed an AI Model that predicts the concentration of phytoplankton in the ocean and express it in mg/m3. The algorithm grows and becomes more efficient as it receives more data. We transform our AI Model in an interactive app that every person around the globe can use.

The model learns with five different factors, climatological and chemical, are introduced to the program, those are:

• Latitude and longitude: we ask to the user and specific locations, to make it easy to use.
• Pressure: it is an easy value that the user can find in any device with an access network.
• Temperature: it is an easy value that the user can find in any device with an access network.
• PH: even tho we ask the value to the user, the values able to use are between 8.1 and 8.5

Latitude, longitude, and pressure are not the principal factors that contribute to the reproduction of phytoplankton but are the ones easy to localize a certain area and analyze the rest of chemical and biological characteristics.

App link here

What is next

• Salinity: It is required to measure or estimate the density of ocean water, and electric conductivity.
• CO2 concentration: Ocean becomes more acid as atmospheric CO2 concentrations increases. This CO2 molecules dissolves in the ocean, producing carbonic acid (H2CO3). Carbonic acid dissociates into a hydrogen ion (H+) and bicarbonate (HCO3-). The rise of H+ signifies the increased acidity of the oceans [13].
• Nitrogen cycle: Information about oceanic nitrate is crucial for making inferences about marine biological production and the efficiency of the biological carbon pump. While there are no optical properties that allow direct estimation of inorganic nitrogen, its correlation with other biogeochemical variables may permit its inference from satellite data [14]. The highest concentrations of nitrogen are in highest latitudes, particularly in the northern North Atlantic and North Pacific and those are the areas with higher phytoplankton concentrations. The correlation decreases toward the tropics, with very few scattered areas showing a negative correlation.
• Phosphates in phytoplankton are pivotal in the regulation of metabolic processes like phosphorylation and dephosphorylation.
• Ocean turbidity and ocean currents: It is related to phytoplankton conditions of growth by the amount of sunlight that reaches deeper through the ocean surface.
• Sunlight and UV radiation: Are related factors on biodiversity of life growth.

With better development of measurement systems worldwide, we could have a more accurate prediction of this AI model. We can not do this alone, it is important to join multidisciplinary global institutions like NASA, NOAA, and WHO. With NASA’s technology, like satellites, world mapping of differents crucial factors, databases and many more things, we can save our sea… and save ourselves.

References

1. Rosenberg, Rutger. “Macrobenthic Succession in Relation to Organic Enrichment and Pollution of the Marine Environment.” ResearchGate, Pearson TH, 1978, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/243785865_Pearson_TH_Rosenberg_R_Macrobenthic_succession_in_relation_to_organic_enrichment_and_pollution_of_the_marine_environment_Oceanogr_Mar_Biol_Ann_Rev_16_229-311.
2. Contributor, Aparna. "What Are Algae?." livescience.com. N. p., 2016. Web. 21 Oct. 2019. Retrieved from https://www.livescience.com/54979-what-are-algae.html
3. Indianapolis, Indiana, Indiana Indianapolis, and Indiana University. "What Causes Algal Blooms? | Center For Earth And Environmental Science." Cees.iupui.edu. N. p., 2019. Web. 21 Oct. 2019. Retrieved from http://www.cees.iupui.edu/research/algal-toxicology/bloomfactors
4. Paerl, Hans W. et al. "Mitigating Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms In Aquatic Ecosystems Impacted By Climate Change And Anthropogenic Nutrients." Harmful Algae 54 (2016): 213-222. Web. 21 Oct. 2019. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1568988315301049
5. Grattan, Lynn M., Sailor Holobaugh, and J. Glenn Morris. "Harmful Algal Blooms And Public Health." Harmful Algae 57 (2016): 2-8. Web. 21 Oct. 2019. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5016795/
6. "The Top 10 Causes Of Death." Who.int. N. p., 2018. Web. 21 Oct. 2019. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death
7. Cressey, Daniel. "Climate Change Is Making Algal Blooms Worse." Nature (2017): n. pag. Web. 21 Oct. 2019. Retrieved from https://www.nature.com/news/climate-change-is-making-algal-blooms-worse-1.21884
8. Eric W. Wolff "Ice Sheets And Nitrogen | Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2019):. Web. 21 Oct. 2019. Retrieved from:https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2013.0127
9. McDougall, Dan. "The Tiny Algae At Ground Zero Of Greenland's Melting Glaciers | Dan Mcdougall." the Guardian. N. p., 2019. Web. 21 Oct. 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/18/tiny-algae-ground-zero-greenland-melting-glaciers
10. Robyn Lucas, Tony McMichael, Wayne Smith, Bruce Armstrong."Solar Ultraviolet Radiation: Global Burden Of Disease From Solar Ultraviolet Radiation." World Health Organization. N. p., 2019. Web. 21 Oct. 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/uv/publications/solaradgbd/en/
11. "Mitigating The Expansion Of Harmful Algal Blooms Across The Freshwater-To-Marine Continuum." Environmental Science & Technology (2019):. Web. 21 Oct. 2019. Retrieved by https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.7b05950#
12. Raven, John A., Christopher J. Gobler, and Per Juel Hansen. "Dynamic CO2 And Ph Levels In Coastal, Estuarine, And Inland Waters: Theoretical And Observed Effects On Harmful Algal Blooms." Harmful Algae (2019): 101594. Web. 21 Oct. 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1568988319300381
13. Sachs. J. ()."The Age Of Sustainable Development." Google Books. N. p., 2019. Web. 21 Oct. 2019. Retrieved from: https://books.google.com.mx/books?id=3lAxBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA189&lpg=PA189&dq=jeffrey+sacks+talks+about+algae+bloom&source=bl&ots=-seidsTqV-&sig=ACfU3U0ZuQ37FNk_oL1Z290h_m0ydiHwTQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiV_KXDpKflAhUPC6wKHaYkD4MQ6AEwBXoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false
14. Arteaga, Lionel, Markus Pahlow, and Andreas Oschlies. "Global Monthly Sea Surface Nitrate Fields Estimated From Remotely Sensed Sea Surface Temperature, Chlorophyll, And Modeled Mixed Layer Depth." Geophysical Research Letters 42.4 (2015): 1130-1138. Web. 21 Oct. 2019. Retrieved from: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2014GL06293