In world-first research, Edith Cowan University researchers and an international team of collaborators have accurately quantified the amount of greenhouse gasses – or 'blue carbon' – being absorbed and emitted by Australian marine ecosystems.
In world-first research, Edith Cowan University researchers and an international team of collaborators have accurately quantified the amount of greenhouse gasses – or 'blue carbon' – being absorbed and emitted by Australian marine ecosystems.
Published today in Nature Communications, the paper shows Australian seagrass, mangrove and salt marshes absorb 20 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, which remains locked up in their soils for millennia.
That's about the same as the annual emissions of more than 4 million cars.
Worryingly, the research shows damage to the same ecosystems is causing 3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide to be released back into the atmosphere each year as a result of human development, severe weather and the effects of climate change.
Read more at Edith Cowan University
Image: Headshot of lead author, Dr Oscar Serrano from Edith Cowan University. (Credit: Edith Cowan University)
