<
https://theconversation.com/buried-kelp-seaweed-carried-to-the-deep-sea-stores-more-carbon-than-we-thought-228888>
"Deep in the ocean lies the world’s largest active carbon reservoir, which
plays a pivotal role in buffering our planet’s climate. Of the roughly 10
billion tonnes of carbon we emit each year, about 3 billion tonnes are taken up
and stored in the oceans.
When we consider natural carbon storage in the deep oceans, we generally focus
on phytoplankton. Trillions of these microscopic plants live in the surface
waters all across the oceans. When they die, they sink to the ocean floor,
transporting carbon to the depths.
But there’s a missing piece of the puzzle. Our two new studies show coastal
vegetation such as seaweed forests are more important to natural carbon storage
than we thought. Around 56 million tonnes of carbon in the form of seaweed is
carried into the deep ocean each year.
For carbon to be stored for hundreds of years, it has to enter slow cycling
pools of carbon in the deep ocean. But most seaweeds only grow in shallow
coastal seas. How can they get there?"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
