Blue carbon is stored in mangroves, seagrass and sediments. Discussions at the UN Ocean Decade conference reiterate the importance of preserving existing sea floor habitats, before it’s too late.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Blue carbon
Displaying 1 - 20 of 33 articles
New Zealand’s new government has vowed to explore ‘blue carbon’ options for removing atmospheric CO₂ to meet net zero goals. But first we need a national strategy for this developing field of science.
Most of the carbon disturbed by trawls is unreactive and difficult to convert to CO₂.
Marine sediments are the world’s largest store of carbon, and fiords in particular are a massive sink. But New Zealand doesn’t even have an oceans policy to develop blue carbon climate policy.
We want good news on climate change. But whales storing enough carbon needs more evidence.
Mangroves and salt marshes pump out methane – but soak up carbon dioxide. Overall, the world’s coasts are a net greenhouse sink – and we must preserve them
By adapting and applying existing policies, South Africa can protect and restore its critical ‘blue carbon’ sinks.
As the world’s largest archipelagic state, Indonesia has great potential to earn carbon credits to protect its endangered mangroves and seagrass – which now store around 17% of global “blue carbon”.
Mangroves support a significant amount of biodiversity and their soils can capture a great deal of carbon.
From planting mangroves to dumping minerals in the ocean, there are lots of ideas for ocean carbon dioxide removal – and even more questions.
Our ocean forests of seaweed are enormous. But these quick-growing, life-supporting forests are already vanishing.
Millions of mangroves died off along Australia’s northern coast. The cause? El Niño - and the moon’s wobbly orbit causing extremely low tides.
‘Blue carbon’ habitats can store a lot of carbon – but not reliably enough to offset emissions.
Tidal marshes can build up their soil to keep pace with sea-level rises – up to a point. It turns out the point when the marsh is drowned matches the average rise when global warming exceeds 1.5°C.
For decades, Indonesia’s mangroves have been degraded or turned into aquaculture. But there are signs of progress, with a new focus on restoration and income-generating alternatives.
Seaweed was thought to be a vital tool in the fight to slow climate change. But it turns out seaweed ecosystems may be a natural source of carbon dioxide – and not a sink.
For over a decade, the inclusion of oceans in climate talks has been piecemeal and inconsistent. And yet, the ocean is critical to help balance the conditions we need to survive.
Work is still needed to collect more data on the carbon capture capacity of the country’s rich coastal ecosystems.
Rather than considering the job done, Tasmania should seize opportunities including renewable energy, net-zero industrial exports and forest preservation.
Seagrass meadows are a powerful ally in the effort to slow climate change and reverse wildlife losses.
Top contributors
-
Research Associate, Institute of Coastal and Marine Research, Nelson Mandela University
-
Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University
-
Professor, University of St Andrews
-
Senior Research Fellow in Marine Ecology, University of Otago
-
Associate Fellow, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
-
Professor, The University of Western Australia
-
Associate Researcher, University of Tasmania
-
Associate professor in marine biology, Swansea University
-
Professor of Marine Ecology, Edith Cowan University
-
Assistant Professor, School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society // CEO MarFishEco Fisheries Consultant Ltd, Heriot-Watt University
-
Emeritus Professor of Environmental Governance, UCL
-
Guest investigator, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
-
Postdoctoral research associate, Charles Darwin University
-
Professor of Teaching and Research in Environmental Biology, Edinburgh Napier University
-
Research Fellow in Marine Science and Manager Whales & Climate Program, Griffith University
