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Jellyfish vs. Climate Change?

© Brian Chumney

As NPR reports, "Jellyfish and other related creatures may be playing an unwitting role in the Earth's climate by stirring up the oceans, according to a new study in this week's issue of the journal Nature."

So...are 'jellyfish and other related creatures' contributing to climate change and increased amounts of atmospheric CO2? No. These animals play an important role in ocean mixing, the process in which cold, deep water combines with warmer surface water. Mixing is a key regulator of the Earth's temperature and the ocean's nutrients. And this is where atmospheric CO2, and thereby climate change, is affected, because carbon dioxide dissolves in surface waters and is then pulled into the depths of the ocean and stored when ocean mixing occurs.

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