{"id":222408,"date":"2021-04-09T00:30:20","date_gmt":"2021-04-08T21:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/shrinking-sea-meadows-store-more-carbon-than-forests-scientists-track-whats-left\/"},"modified":"2021-04-09T00:30:20","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T21:30:20","slug":"shrinking-sea-meadows-store-more-carbon-than-forests-scientists-track-whats-left","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/shrinking-sea-meadows-store-more-carbon-than-forests-scientists-track-whats-left\/","title":{"rendered":"#Shrinking sea meadows store more carbon than forests, scientists track what\u2019s left"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3430a582797\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3430a582797\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/shrinking-sea-meadows-store-more-carbon-than-forests-scientists-track-whats-left\/#SEAGRASS_AS_CLIMATE_ALLY\" >SEAGRASS AS CLIMATE ALLY<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#Shrinking sea meadows store more carbon than forests, scientists track what\u2019s left<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>SAYA DE MALHA BANK, Indian Ocean \u2013 Hundreds of miles from the nearest shore, ribbon-like fronds flutter in the ocean currents sweeping across an underwater mountain plateau the size of Switzerland.<\/p>\n<p>A remote-powered camera glides through the sunlit, turquoise waters of this corner of the western Indian Ocean, capturing rare footage of what scientists believe is the world\u2019s largest seagrass meadow.<\/p>\n<p>Human activity is helping destroy the equivalent of a soccer field of these seagrasses every 30 minutes around the world, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unep.org\/news-and-stories\/press-release\/protection-seagrasses-key-building-resilience-climate-change\">according to the U.N. Environment Programme<\/a> (UNEP). And scientists are now racing to take stock of what remains.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are a lot of unknowns \u2014 even things as simple as how much seagrass we have,\u201d said Oxford University earth observation scientist Gwilym Rowlands, who is helping the Seychelles government map the island nation\u2019s seagrass and estimate how much carbon it stores.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you look at the map data for seagrass, there are huge holes\u201d in what we know.<\/p>\n<p>Seagrasses play a large role in regulating ocean environments, storing more than twice as much carbon from planet-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) per square mile as forests do on land, according to a 2012 study in the journal Nature Geo<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">science<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Countries that hope to earn credit toward bringing down their CO2 emissions could tally their seagrasses and the carbon they store, a first step toward accrediting carbon offsets for eventual trading on an open market.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" alt=\"A shoal of fish swim over seagrass on the Saya de Malha Bank within the Mascarene plateau, Mauritius.\" class=\"wp-image-17803911 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Mascarene-plateau-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=300 300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Mascarene-plateau-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=640 640w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Mascarene-plateau-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1280 1280w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Mascarene-plateau-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Mascarene-plateau-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2000 2000w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>A shoal of fish swim over seagrass on the Saya de Malha Bank within the Mascarene plateau, Mauritius.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Tommy Trenchard\/Greenpeace\/Handout via Reuters<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The grasses also curb the acidity of surrounding waters \u2014 an especially important function as the ocean absorbs more CO2 from the atmosphere and becomes more acidic.<\/p>\n<p>But seagrasses provide some buffer from acidification, which can damage animals\u2019 shells and disrupt fish behaviours. In one study published March 31 in the journal Global Change Biology, scientists at the University of California, Davis, found that seagrasses dotted along the California coast could reduce local acidity by up to 30 percent for extended periods.<\/p>\n<p>The plants also help clean polluted water, support fisheries, protect coasts from erosion, and trap micro-plastics, said the study\u2019s lead author Aurora Ricart.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is even cooler is that these habitats are present everywhere,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"SEAGRASS_AS_CLIMATE_ALLY\"><\/span>SEAGRASS AS CLIMATE ALLY<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>While most seagrasses fringe coastlines around the world, the shallowness of Saya de Malha allows sunlight to filter to the seabed, creating an aquatic prairie in the Indian Ocean that provides shelter, nur<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> and feeding grounds for thousands of marine species.<\/p>\n<p>The bank\u2019s isolation has helped protect it from coastal threats, including pollution and dredging. But even such remote stretches of international waters face increasing incursions from shipping and industrial fishing.<\/p>\n<p>In March, scientists from institutions including Britain\u2019s Exeter University <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a>led with Greenpeace on an expedition to collect some of the first field data on the area\u2019s wildlife, including its little-studied beds of seagrass.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" alt=\"Corals are seen in a seagrass meadow and one of the biggest carbon sinks in the high seas, at the Saya de Malha Bank.\" class=\"wp-image-17803983 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Saya-de-Malha.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=300 300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Saya-de-Malha.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=640 640w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Saya-de-Malha.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1280 1280w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Saya-de-Malha.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Saya-de-Malha.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2000 2000w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Industrial fishing can hurt even remote locations like Saya de Malha.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Tommy Trenchard\/Greenpeace\/Handout via Reuters<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>With the boat bobbing for days above the plateau, the researchers gathered bits of grass floating in the water, tweezering them into bottles for analysis back on shore.<\/p>\n<p>Data on seagrass meadows are patchy, but research so far estimates the grasses cover over 300,000 square km (115,000 square miles), distributed across all continents apart from Antarctica, according to UNEP. That would be an area the size of Italy.<\/p>\n<p>It is not yet known how much carbon is locked into Saya de Malha, but globally the tangled roots of seagrasses are estimated to trap over 10 percent of the carbon buried in ocean sediment per year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis has massive implications for the (world\u2019s) climate change mitigation efforts,\u201d said Dimos Traganos, lead scientist on a German Aerospace Center project developing software to improve seagrass tracking using satellite imagery and other data. That effort has been helped by recent advances in cloud computing and data storage, he said. \u201cWe are in such an exciting period.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Seagrass meadows are believed to be retreating around 7 percent per year globally, according to the most recent seagrass census <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/106\/30\/12377\">published in a 2009 study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/a>. It notes the estimate was based on incomplete data available at the time.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" alt=\"Lecturer in ecology at the University of Exeter, Dr. Kirsten Thompson manipulate seagrass gathered floating at the surface at the Saya de Malha Bank.\" class=\"wp-image-17804181 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Mascarene-plateau-3.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=300 300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Mascarene-plateau-3.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=640 640w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Mascarene-plateau-3.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1280 1280w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Mascarene-plateau-3.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Mascarene-plateau-3.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2000 2000w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Lecturer in ecology at the University of Exeter, Dr. Kirsten Thompson manipulate seagrass gathered floating at the surface at the Saya de Malha Bank.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Christophe Van Der Perre\/Reuters<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The more closely studied areas illustrate the harm human activity can cause. Pollution from mining and damage by fisheries may have helped to eliminate 92 percent of mainland Britain\u2019s seagrasses in over a century, according to a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.frontiersin.org\/2021\/03\/04\/seagrass-loss-around-the-uk-may-be-much-higher-than-previously-thought\/\">March 4 study in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If still intact, these could have supported around 400 million fish and stored up to 11.5 million tonnes of carbon \u2014 equivalent to 3 percent of Britain\u2019s CO2 emissions in 2017, the study said.<\/p>\n<p>This year, Seychelles began assessing its coastal seagrass carbon stock for the first time, and at least 10 countries have said seagrasses would play a part in their climate action plans, according to UNEP.<\/p>\n<p>Seychelles and Mauritius, which have joint jurisdiction over the Saya de Malha\u2019s seabed, should count up and care for the wealth of seagrass on their shared doorstep, said James Michel, who served 12 years as president of the Seychelles until 2016.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" alt=\"Arctic Sunrise ship crew members are seen on a rigid inflatable boat as it is lowered into the Indian Ocean at the Saya de Malha Bank.\" class=\"wp-image-17804224 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Mascarene-plateau-4.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=300 300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Mascarene-plateau-4.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=640 640w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Mascarene-plateau-4.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1280 1280w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Mascarene-plateau-4.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Mascarene-plateau-4.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2000 2000w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Arctic Sunrise ship crew members are seen on a rigid inflatable boat as it is lowered into the Indian Ocean at the Saya de Malha Bank.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Christophe Van Der Perre\/Reuters<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThen we\u2019ll be in a better position to know how to not only preserve it, but also to manage it to ensure that it is protected for the future.\u201d\n            <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/04\/08\/shrinking-sea-meadows-store-more-carbon-than-forests-scientists-track-whats-left\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Shrinking sea meadows store more carbon than forests, scientists track what\u2019s left&#8221; SAYA DE MALHA BANK, Indian Ocean \u2013 Hundreds of miles from the nearest shore, ribbon-like fronds flutter in the ocean currents sweeping across an underwater mountain plateau the size of Switzerland. A remote-powered camera glides through the sunlit, turquoise waters of this corner&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":222409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Mascarene-plateau-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[101255,71920,43485,10595,101362,70317,70783],"class_list":["post-222408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-4-8-21","tag-carbon-emissions","tag-climate-change","tag-environment","tag-indian-ocean","tag-nature","tag-ocean"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}