楚科奇海的浮游植物水华，美国阿拉斯加州海岸附近 Blooms of phytoplankton in the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska (© Norman Kuring/Kathryn Hansen/U.S. Geological Survey/NASA)

楚科奇海的浮游植物水华，美国阿拉斯加州海岸附近 Blooms of phytoplankton in the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska (© Norman Kuring/Kathryn Hansen/U.S. Geological Survey/NASA)

什么生长得这样茂盛？ What's blooming so brightly?

楚科奇海浮游植物的大量繁殖

在这张酷酷的照片中，数百种深浅的蓝色被大理石镶嵌在一起。不，这不是一件现代艺术作品，它是大自然的杰作。这是一张卫星照片，照片中的浮游植物在阿拉斯加附近盛开，凉爽、咸的楚科奇海与靠近海岸的温暖、新鲜的海水混合在一起。

但究竟什么是浮游植物？它们是微小的太阳能生物，漂浮在海面附近，随洋流漂流。事实上，它们的名字来源于希腊语中植物的“phyton”和流浪者或漂泊者的“planktos”。对于生活在海洋和河口的各种生物来说，浮游植物既美味又营养，对地球上的每一个人都至关重要：浮游植物的光合作用约占世界光合作用的一半，是吸收二氧化碳和释放氧气的太阳能过程。

今天我们谈论浮游植物是为了纪念地球科学周，这是一个鼓励我们所有人学习甚至献身于地球科学的国际活动。今年的主题是“地球科学促进可持续发展世界”，强调科学在维持我们的星球上的作用。所以，是时候掸掉显微镜上的灰尘，参观当地的科学博物馆，或者也许只是了解更多关于美丽的旋转浮游植物的知识。

Blooms of phytoplankton in the Chukchi Sea

Hundreds of shades of blue are marbled together in this cool shot. No, it's not a work of modern art, it's right off the brush of nature. This is a satellite photo of phytoplankton blooming near Alaska as the cool, salty Chukchi Sea mingles with warmer, fresher water closer to shore.

But just what are phytoplankton? They're microscopic sun-powered organisms that float near the surface of the ocean, drifting with the currents. In fact, their name derives from the Greek 'phyton' for plant and 'planktos' for wanderer or drifter. Delicious and nutritious to various creatures living in oceans and estuaries, they're also vital to everyone on Earth: Phytoplankton are responsible for about half of the world's photosynthesis, the sun-powered process that takes in carbon dioxide and releases oxygen.

We're talking phytoplankton today in honor of Earth Science Week, an international event encouraging all of us to learn about or even devote our life to the Earth sciences. This year's theme is 'Earth Science for a Sustainable World,' emphasizing science's role in sustaining our planet. So, time to dust off that microscope, visit your local science museum, or perhaps just learn more about beautiful, swirling phytoplankton.