Greenland study reveals seaweed forests act as “oceanic conveyor belt” for carbon storage
Greenland: New research suggests vast underwater seaweed forests could play a much bigger role in slowing climate change by locking away carbon in the deep ocean.
An international team of scientists has shed new light on how coastal seaweed forests help store planet-warming carbon. Large seaweeds, known as macroalgae, absorb vast amounts of atmospheric CO2. Previous research estimated that between 4 million and 44 million tonnes of macroalgae-derived carbon sink each year to depths of up to 200 metres, where it can remain for at least a century.
Researchers from Germany, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Denmark and the UK tracked 8,000 seaweed rafts growing off southwest Greenland for the first time. Using satellite imagery, computer modelling and ocean current monitoring devices, they found that offshore currents can carry seaweed hundreds of kilometres.
As surface waters cool, the floating vegetation is driven below the surface. There it breaks down and sinks, transporting carbon to the deep ocean.“Our findings illustrate a tangible oceanic conveyor belt that links thriving coastal macroalgal forests with the deep ocean’s carbon reservoir,” said Prof Ana Queirós, marine climate change ecologist and climate change lead at Plymouth Marine Laboratory. “Recognising these natural transport and mixing pathways enhances how we understand macroalgae’s vital role in the Earth’s carbon cycle,” Queirós said.
