The Secret To Climate Action
Our Magical Underwater Meadows
It’s essential to recognize the contributions of nature’s unsung heroes in the battle against rising temperatures and greenhouse gas emissions. Among these often overlooked champions is seagrass — a seemingly unassuming marine plant with extraordinary capabilities.
Did you know that seagrass plays a crucial role in combating climate change?
Through a process called carbon sequestration, seagrass can effectively absorb and retain significant amounts of carbon dioxide. This makes it an invaluable tool in mitigating the effects of global warming and preserving the delicate balance of our planet’s ecosystems.
A wasting disease caused a significant decline in the seagrass population in the UK during the 1930s.
Even more troubling is the fact that the recovery of this vital ecosystem has been impeded by human activities such as pollution, dredging, and coastal development. These activities have led to physical disturbance of the seagrass beds and the use of mobile fishing gear, which further threatens the fragile seagrass ecosystem.
Seagrass Could Be More Important Than The Forests We Have On Land
Did you know that seagrass is a powerful tool in the fight against climate change? Despite covering less than 0.2% of the ocean floor, it accounts for 10% of the ocean’s carbon burial and captures carbon at a rate 35 times faster than tropical rainforests.
This makes it one of the most valuable natural solutions we have to combat the climate crisis.
Seagrasses create underwater havens known as nursery habitats. They provide shelter for small creatures like crabs, shrimp, and other invertebrates. Algae, microalgae, bacteria, and other organisms grow on the seagrass leaves, while various invertebrates reside between the blades or in the sediment.
These organisms attract larger animals, resulting in a rich ecosystem. Seagrass meadows are home to a wide range of marine life, including fish, sharks, turtles, marine mammals, molluscs, sponges, crustaceans, worms, sea urchins, and sea anemones.
Why We Don’t Hear About Seagrass As Much As Rainforests?
Well, there are a couple of reasons:
- Seagrass can grow and replenish itself a lot quicker than forests, there is a quicker turnaround should mass destruction happen.
- It’s underwater, you know the saying ‘out of sight, out of mind’? Unfortunately, seagrass doesn't get covered in the media nearly enough, because it’s not really seen as often as rainforests do.
- Humans are less involved in the upkeep of seagrass territories, while there are protected lands of rainforest, there isn't for seagrass.
Balance Is The Key
While seagrass is more effective at carbon sequestration, we shouldn’t rely on it. The amazing thing about planet Earth is that everything works in tandem, every cycle, every organism is working together in harmony to keep the ecosystem alive. To ensure the rich life of humans on Earth, we must keep this balance.
I know this article is a little misaligned with the purpose of this account, however, I think it’s important that we are aware of how this earth works and flourishes, to learn is to be interested, and to be interested is to show empathy, every consumer should have empathy towards the earth, without Earth, we would be nothing.
If you’ve come this far, I’d like to thank you for reading.
If you enjoyed this post I would love it if you checked out some of my others. The Mindful Consumer Journey is about sparking change within society, so if you enjoy these kinds of articles I would love for you to follow so we together can make a change.
