Summary
The West Antarctic Peninsula is one of the fastest warming regions in Antarctica, impacting carbon fluxes from the atmosphere to the ocean through effects on phytoplankton blooms, the microscopic marine plants that form the base of the food web. This project investigates changes in the seasonal timing, amount, and type of phytoplankton as the West Antarctic Peninsula warms and experiences sea ice loss. This study of a critically important ecosystem’s carbon cycle and shifting seasonal timing of events is relevant to all polar systems in the face of global climate warming. The proposed research
