However, scientists from the CNRS and Université Laval, Quebec1 showed that an unprecedented strengthening of Atlantic currents is playing a major role in this phenomenon called ‘Atlantification’.

The research team studied Emiliania huxleyi, a marine microalgae that typically lives in temperate waters at lower latitudes. A specific feature of this organism is that it has a calcareous shell that reflects light so well that its massive development makes the ocean surface turquoise over large areas, a phenomenon that can be seen from space.

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