The oceans act as a toilet that flushes carbon waste. Marine heat waves are clogging it up.

The oceans act as a toilet that flushes carbon waste. Marine heat waves are clogging it up.

This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The planet would be a whole lot hotter if it weren’t for fecal pellets. Across the world’s oceans, tiny organisms known as phytoplankton harvest the sun’s energy, gobbling up carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. They’re eaten by little animals called zooplankton, which poop out pellets that sink to the seafloor. What is essentially a gi…