Could Tiny Diatoms Help Offset Global Warming?
Diatoms — some of which are so tiny that 30 can fit across the width of a human hair — are so numerous that they are among the key organisms taking the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide out of the Earth’s atmosphere. The shells of diatoms are so heavy that when they die in the oceans they typically sink to watery graves on the seafloor, taking carbon out of the surface waters and locking it into sediments below.