Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on progress made by the biogeochemical ocean flux study in assessing the use of coccolithophores to fix carbon dioxide.
Mr. JacksonI have been asked to reply.
Studies have shown that the natural abundance of coccolithophores could increase under conditions of increasing carbon dioxide. Studies are under way on the suitability of these organisms as food for zooplankton and protozoa. Coccolithophores are only one component of ocean life taking up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; the biogeochemical ocean flux study's 1989 cruises will measure these processes.