Lucas Laursen » Recent http://lucaslaursen.com Journalism from around the world Wed, 09 May 2012 18:07:16 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Blue Bacteria in Bloom http://lucaslaursen.com/blue-bacteria-in-bloom/ http://lucaslaursen.com/blue-bacteria-in-bloom/#comments Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:51:19 +0000 LL http://lucaslaursen.com/?p=3321 On their own, cyanobacteria are tiny photosynthetic organisms floating in the sea. But when they join forces, linking together into chains and then mats by the millions, they can become a threat. Before long, the bacteria change the color of the sea’s surface and even soften the wind-tossed chop. One study of cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, although they are not algae, predicted that rising sea temperatures could help the already widespread creatures expand their territory by more than 10 percent. Now researchers are asking whether mats of cyanobacteria might themselves affect local sea temperatures, thus creating a powerful feedback loop.

Read the rest of this news story in the April issue of Scientific American [html] [pdf]

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