Seventy percent of the marine plants that naturally sequester carbon are found in coastal areas such as seagrass meadows and salt marshes. Much of these areas have been lost since the 1940s due to coastal development, and have been damaged by run off from agricultural and industrial activities. These coastal ecosystems are more effective than terrestrial ones when measuring climate change mitigation effectiveness. Half a kilogram of marine plant material can sequester as much as 1,000 kgs of plant material on land due to unique chemical processes within marine sediments.
Natural Carbon Sequestration
Natural carbon sequestration is the storage of carbon in a stable solid
form. Some terrestrial and marine plants sequester or fix carbon into
the soil or sediments around their roots in mineral form, storing it
for thousands of years or more. These carbon sequestering plants are
extremely important for reducing the amount of carbon circulating in
the atmosphere and oceans, and play an important role in combating
climate change and ocean acidification which are caused by increased CO2 in the atmosphere.
Seventy percent of the marine plants that naturally sequester carbon are found in coastal areas such as seagrass meadows and salt marshes. Much of these areas have been lost since the 1940s due to coastal development, and have been damaged by run off from agricultural and industrial activities. These coastal ecosystems are more effective than terrestrial ones when measuring climate change mitigation effectiveness. Half a kilogram of marine plant material can sequester as much as 1,000 kgs of plant material on land due to unique chemical processes within marine sediments.
Seventy percent of the marine plants that naturally sequester carbon are found in coastal areas such as seagrass meadows and salt marshes. Much of these areas have been lost since the 1940s due to coastal development, and have been damaged by run off from agricultural and industrial activities. These coastal ecosystems are more effective than terrestrial ones when measuring climate change mitigation effectiveness. Half a kilogram of marine plant material can sequester as much as 1,000 kgs of plant material on land due to unique chemical processes within marine sediments.