How bacteria handle CO2 dissolved in the water puzzles Ducklow and his colleagues. He picked December for this second trip to Antarctica because bacteria are most active during this time of perpetual daylight. It will take at least a year to analyze the data gathered from this latest voyage. Part of Ducklow's research focuses on whether CO2 absorption rates vary among the world's oceans. In other expeditions, Ducklow has measured bacteria activity in the north Atlantic, central Pacific Ocean and Arabian Sea and plans to compare these results with findings gathered during his two Antarctica expeditions.
Preliminary evidence supports at least one important conclusion.
It seems to be absorbing CO2 more than anywhere else in the world. This theory, which a number of scientists have also put forth, could have significant implications. A hole in the protective ozone layer develops each year in the atmosphere above Antarctica. As a result, sea life, particularly phytoplankton on which bacteria depend for existence, are encountering higher than normal levels of UV light. Compared with bacteria living in warmer waters such as the Chesapeake Bay, Antarctica bacteria consistently grow little most of the year.