Photos: YouTube Screenshots\Fabiola Espinoza Castellon/Wikimedia Commons
Desertification in parts of southern Africa contributes to the green color of waters in the Indian Ocean, new research suggests.
International oceanographers analyzed satellite images that showed how the color of waters south-east of Madagascar had changed over time.
They found that desertification, particularly in parts of Namibia and Botswana, caused large amounts of nutrient-rich dust which was carried over long distances by wind and deposited in the ocean.
Nutrients found in the dust provided conditions for the growth of phytoplankton — microscopic algae whose green pigment colors the ocean surface.
