Blue Carbon: is this the Ocean’s secret weapon in fighting climate change?
When you look at the news today, it can seem like the natural world is in big trouble. The climate is changing, endangering the lives of countless animals and habitats—and this is all being driven by rising carbon emissions.
According to NOAA Data, levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have risen from roughly 320 parts per million in the 1960s to 420 in the 2020s. But, here at the Ocean Conservation Trust, we know that a solution to this can be found in the very thing that is at risk: the natural world.
Nature Based Solutions
On land, there are numerous habitats that play a key role in capturing and storing carbon. Through photosynthesis, plants absorb CO2 through the leaves and water through the roots. Thus, carbon is stored in living biomass above ground (leaves, branches, stems), living biomass below ground (roots), non-living biomass (litter and dead wood), and even in soil.
But consider our planet; only 29% of the Earth is covered by land, with the remaining 71% covered in water. It’s good news, then, that our Oceans also contain key habitats that don’t just capture and store carbon but can do it even more effectively than land habitats.
What is Blue Carbon?
The carbon captured and stored in marine environments is referred to as ‘Blue Carbon.’ Carbon can be stored in habitats like tidal salt marshes and mangroves, as well as in organisms like phytoplankton and even animals like krill, whales, and others. But the habitat that we at the Ocean Conservation Trust are focused on is seagrass.
Of the habitats mentioned above, seagrass absorbs the most carbon from the surrounding waters and atmosphere, making it the habitat with the highest potential for storing and reducing carbon.
Seagrass is the only flowering plant in the Ocean. It looks much like a grassy meadow on the seabed. And, amazingly, it can absorb carbon up to 35 times more efficiently than a tropical rainforest. It’s hard to understate how incredible their potential for carbon capture is — despite only covering 0.2% of the seabed, they store 10% of the Ocean’s carbon.
All of the aforementioned marine environments act as ‘carbon sinks’, meaning they absorb more carbon than they release, trapping it in both plant matter and the sediments below them. Much of the global seabed is covered by fine, soft sediment (especially in the deep sea) and this is one of the great carbon stores on the planet.
Why we do what we do!
Unfortunately, these are some of the most threatened habitats on earth. Protecting these vital habitats against decline and degradation is hugely important, because we’re facing not only the loss of carbon capture potential but also the release of any carbon stored.
That’s why the OCT is at the heart of this battle with our Blue Meadows programme. We’re working tirelessly to protect the biodiversity and carbon within thousands of hectares of UK seagrass beds and to restore large new beds facilitating more carbon capture and homes for a vast array of marine organisms.
You can find out more about our work here.
And you can help too!
While we do the complicated job of restoring seagrass meadows, there’s plenty that you can do to help make a difference. First and foremost, we can all try to reduce the amount of carbon we produce in the first place – which would help both our Ocean and the rest of our planet to thrive.
- Why not take our #thinkOcean challenge? This quick quiz will help you to find out how you think about the Ocean and provides some further tips and ideas for being more Ocean friendly in your day-to-day actions and behaviours.
- Here at the OCT, we’re Ocean optimists, and we’re always coming up with ways to engage with and support marine conservation. You can hear more about this by signing up to our mailing list here or, following us on social media.
- If you’re able to, you can donate money that directly funds our conservation work. We’re currently working hard to protect and restore marine habitats, so your support will allow us to continue our work for the Ocean and the climate. Donate here. Or buy a Mini Meadow here.
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What do people know about seagrass?
Quite a bit, as it turns out…
