Ocean Blue and Seagrass Green - carbon sink loss

Seagrass is also a habitat for small fish

When most people think of oxygen production and carbon storage, most of the time trees and forests are the first items that come to mind - but in fact the single greatest source of oxygen on the planet is the ocean. Similarly the ocean is the single greatest resource for carbon capture on the planet mainly through seagrass which is estimated to capture around 27.4 million tonnes of carbon each year. Unlike forests which only hold carbon for approximately 60 years, seagrass is holding carbon stored in the soil below it from the last ice age.

The startling results from research carried out on 946 seagrass meadows worldwide by the University of Western Australia has revealed that these critical resources are disappearing at a rate of 1.5% per annum due to water pollution, dredging for construction and effects of warmer temperatures due to climate change. This means that the carbon stored beneath the plants is being released back into the atmosphere and with an estimated 19.9 billion tonnes of carbon stored beneath seagrass, the scenario of a widespread release of carbon cannot be discounted. If large areas of seagrass die that is likely to be in excess of 299 million tonnes per year.