Coastal Blue Carbon and Oceanic Carbon Storage
Wetland Ecosystems and Restoration Projects
Climate change is the most pressing global issue today with far reaching consequences for people worldwide. Carbon sinks are extremely important in reducing atmospheric carbon emissions and coastal wetland ecosystems play a key role in sequestered carbon. In the past couple decades these ecosystems have reduced in size due to anthropogenic reasons. Humans must work to restore wetland areas to reverse the effects of climate change. The ocean is one of the biggest carbon sinks on the planet and many people are looking to enhance the capacities of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR).
Destroyed Salt Marsh vs Thriving Salt Marsh in Delaware
What is Blue Carbon?
Blue carbon is any atmospheric carbon captured and stored by marine and coastal ecosystems. Coastal blue carbon is one of the most efficient natural carbon sinks in the world. These valuable ecosystems sequester and store carbon over long timescales. Coastal and open ocean "blue carbon” ecosystems help mitigate climate change and its impacts by facilitating the uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) into the ocean and transporting carbon into sediments or the deep ocean.
Significance of blue carbon ecosystem
Data provided by Visual Capitalist
Coastal blue carbon ecosystems including salt marshes, mangroves, and seagrass beds are extremely important to global carbon storage. Coastal blue carbon ecosystems form deep, carbon-rich soils, and store carbon at a much greater rate per unit area than terrestrial habitats
North American Blue Carbon Ecosystems
Blue Carbon Ecosystems in North America
Coastal Blue Carbon Ecosystems
Mangrove Forests in the Florida Keys
The Florida Keys have over 18,000 miles of Mangrove forests along its coastline
Salt Marshes in Monterey and San Francisco Bay
Monterey and San Francisco Bay are home to large salt marshes
Seagrass in the Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta system has drastic losses of Seagrass population. Many restoration projects look to rebuild these depleted areas.
Open-Ocean Blue Carbon
Macro-algae
Macroalgae Cultivation farms in Indonesian Ocean
Macroalgae can contribute to carbon sequestration in three different ways. The first is by the release of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the form of refractory organic carbon (RDOC) which is resistant to degradation in the water column. The second way is through the burial of particulate organic carbon (POC) in marine sediments. The last mechanism is through the export of DOC and/or POC to deep sea areas with long residence times.
Where in the ocean can this be done?
A study investigating the global ocean spatial suitability for macroalgae offshore cultivation and sinking (Alevizos and Barille, 2023).
This study was conducted to discover the suitable and unsuitable regions in the ocean where MOS cultivation is possible. The unsuitable areas account for any shipping routes and Marine Protected Areas (MPA). It also excludes any areas that are of particular importance for marine mammals (e.g. migration routes and reproduction sites). The suitable areas are in places that are sufficiently deep (at least 1000m in depth) , but also within close proximity to ports and open ocean nutrients. The Northern Atlantic Ocean is one of the bet areas in the world because this area is not heavily impacted, it is has depths much greater than 1000 meters and there is a lot nutrient availability from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. As you can see, China, Madagascar, and the Indonesian sea are the largest producer of macroalgae. The total MOS suiable area is 10.8 million km^2.
Macroalgae farming in China
China is the leading producer of macro algae in the world. They account for 60% of the global production, and it is heavily intertwined within their economy
Global Projects and Initiatives
Elkhorn Slough Tidal Wetland Program (TWP)
Elkhorn Slough is tidal slough and estuary that stretches 7 miles along the coast in Monterey Bay. This reserve offers habitat to 550 invertebrate species, 135 bird species and 100 fish species. About fifty percent, or 1,000 acres, of Elkhorn Slough’s salt marshes were lost over the past 150 years due to the formation of the harbor in the 1940s and the draining of wetlands.
The Tidal Wetland Program at Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve
The Tidal Wetland Program at Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve
The Elkhorn Slough Tidal Wetland Program (TWP) was formed to address the extensive salt marsh loss in the system. This unique program is a collaborative effort to develop and implement strategies to conserve and restore estuarine habits in the Elkhorn Slough watershed.
Take a look at some of the particular projects being conducted here:
One Earth Global Wetland Day
This project aims to restore mangrove populations across the world in six different countries. International companies are helping fund the restoration of mangrove forests, and anyone can donate to help this cause.
One Earth | World Wetlands Day: Preserving Our Global Lifelines
One Earth is a nonprofit organization looking to expedite the collective action that is needed to be able to solve the climate crisis. This is done through through inspiring media, scientific analysis and an innovative approach to climate philanthropy. They base their ideas off the 3 pillars of collective action: 1. A just transition to 100% renewable energy; 2. Protection and restoration of half of the world’s lands and oceans; 3. A shift to net-zero food and fiber systems.
Explore projects, solutions and ways you can help:
Interactive map showing projects and solutions in each of Earth's bioregions
Blue Carbon Initiative
The blue carbon initiative is a globally coordinated program that is focused on restoring and conserving coastal wetland ecosystems. There aim is to the climate, the biodiversity of coastal regions, and benefit human well-being.
They are spit up into two groups that collaborate and work together to create change. The first group is the policy group that works to create more awareness about coastal wetlands. They work to provide a framework for the development of policy that enhances the conservation of coastal ecosystems. The second group is the working group that provides scientific analysis of blue carbon ecosystems. They regularly meet in blue carbon-rich countries to conduct research with local experts and scientists to expand in-country initiatives that support the conservation of blue carbon ecosystems. They have completed workshops in Mexico, China, Scotland, Brazil, Australia, the United States and many more countries.
Investigate the many project that the Blue Carbon Initiative are involved in here:
Ocean Rainforest
The ocean rainforest is a company based out of the Faroe Islands and California, U.S.A. They are a blue growth company that offer a collection of seaweed products, but also take part in research projects involving seaweed cultivation. The company was founded in 2007, with the main goal of growing seaweed in the ocean to CO2 and mitigate climate change.
Ocean Rainforest Short Version
Ocean rainforest has many ongoing projects that involve seaweed cultivation. Since 2010, they have been conducting research and applying innovative technologies to develop world class cultivation techniques. They are Europe's leader in macroalgae cultivation, and in 2020 they began conducting work in Santa Barbara, California.
