A new study offers first-time insights into three emerging climate innovations to safeguard or increase the carbon naturally captured by ocean and coastal ecosystems: rapid interventions to save the Great Barrier Reef, satellite-tracked kelp beds in the deep ocean, and seagrass nurseries in the United Kingdom.
A new study offers first-time insights into three emerging climate innovations to safeguard or increase the carbon naturally captured by ocean and coastal ecosystems: rapid interventions to save the Great Barrier Reef, satellite-tracked kelp beds in the deep ocean, and seagrass nurseries in the United Kingdom. The research, published in Environmental Science & Policy and co-authored by leading climate scholars at Boston University, Aarhus University, and the University of Sussex Business School, advances knowledge of understudied interventions in marine habitat protection to manage greenhouse gas emissions.
These climate change interventions, known as blue carbon, preserve or enhance marine and coastal ecosystems as valuable sources of carbon removal and storage. Currently, more than half of the world’s biological carbon is captured and stored by marine living organisms, which are threatened by acidification, temperature change, severe storms, and pollution. Previous studies have shown that improved management of these habitats could potentially arrest up to 10% of global emissions reductions needed to meet Paris Agreement targets.
Expanding Knowledge of Potential Solutions
While blue carbon solutions could reduce emissions, generate revenue, and advance conservation policy, questions remain around their efficacy and potential effects on sociopolitical systems.
Read more at Boston University
