Hidden world and hidden potential
Of all the Green carbon captured annually in the world, that is the carbon captured by photosynthetic activity, over half (55%) is captured by marine living organisms. This oceanic carbon cycle is dominated by plankton, including bacteria and archaea.
Even though plant biomass in the oceans is only a fraction of that on land, just 0.05%, it cycles almost the same amount of carbon each year; therefore representing extremely efficient carbon sinks.
The so-called blue carbon is captured by the world’s oceans and coastal ecosystems. Carbon captured by organisms living in the oceans is stored in the form of biomass and sediments, mainly in mangroves, salt marshes, seagrass beds and kelp forests.
Source : IUCN
A large distribution of blue carbon ecosystems around the world
Destruction & Emission of CO2
Vegetated marine coastal habitats, blue carbon sinks, rank amongst the most threatened marine ecosystems. Coastal eutrophication, reclamation, engineering and urbanisation have lead to the loss of a substantial fraction of the earth’s blue carbon sinks since the 1940s.
If more action is not taken to sustain these vital ecosystems, most may be lost within two decades. Halting degradation and restoring both the lost marine carbon sinks in the oceans and slowing deforestation of the tropical forests on land could result in mitigating global emissions by up to 25%. (IUCN)