POSTER Session 4

IMPACT OF 2023 NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN WARMING ON COCCOLITHOPHORES BLOOMS

The year 2023 witnessed an unprecedented warming event characterized by record-level sea surface temperatures and prolonged marine heatwaves. In this global context, the northeastern temperate and polar Atlantic experienced one of the highest ever recorded sea surface temperatures (SSTs) since the beginning of the satellite era. The unique environmental conditions associated with such extreme events have the potential to impact phytoplankton bloom occurrence and phenology. Here we investigate the influence of the 2023 SSTs in the North Atlantic ocean on blooms of the calcifying phytoplankton species Emiliania huxleyi. Blooms of E. huxleyi commonly occur in these areas in summer, can be easily detected from ocean color satellites, and play an important role in the ocean’s biological carbon pump. In this study we combine long-term remote sensing observations of SST with the concentrations of calcite to evaluate the influence of the unprecedented MHW that occurred in spring-summer 2023 on blooms of calcifying and non-calcifying phytoplankton. We focus on two distinct regions, one at the leading and one at the trailing edge of E. huxleyi‘s biogeographic distribution. Our findings reveal the geographical shifts of these blooms and their link with ocean warming. They also provide insights into potential long-term variations in the ocean carbon cycle, particularly in response to the warming of the ocean associated with climate change.

Thibault Guinaldo, Météo France, Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques (CNRM, France, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9792-8398

Griet Neukermans, Ghent University and Flanders Marine Institute, Belgium, [email protected]

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