Blue Carbon refers to when Carbon is stored within the coastal and marine regions. Mangroves and tidal and salt marshes come under the blue carbon ecosystems. These coastal ecosystems are effective and they have a good capacity to store carbon within the plants and in the sediments below. Conserving Blue Carbon ecosystems is an effective way of slowing saving the environment and also to fight climate change
Mangroves, tidal, salt marshes, and seagrasses are considered blue-carbon ecosystems. They can store two to four times more carbon than terrestrial forests and are considered nature-based solutions to climate change.
Marine species, fish stocks, and coastal communities depend on healthy blue-carbon ecosystems. They also filter water flowing into our oceans and reef systems and protect coastlines from erosion and storm surges. They are found on every continent except Antarctica and cover approximately 49 million hectares.
This doesn’t stop them from being some of the most threatened ecosystems on Earth. Coastal blue carbon ecosystems are being destroyed due to climate change and rising temperatures.
A coastal concern
According to UNESCO, 50% of the pre-industrial, natural extent of global coastal wetlands has already been lost since the 19th century. Even today this decline continues to happen, as 0.5-3% of losses happen annually. This includes Mangrove forest exploitation, urban development, pollution, and side effects of agriculture and aquaculture. And when the blue carbon ecosystems are degraded, their high carbon content can become a source of greenhouse gas emissions.
When it comes to storing carbon, most of it is located belowground in the soils of these ecosystems. That means even with the carbon stored within the mangroves, tidal marshes, and seagrasses meadows, the majority of the carbon is stored below ground, and it can remain there for a very long time.
But then, there comes a time when these coastal ecosystems are exploited for one reason or the other. This causes carbon to be released into the atmosphere as CO2. With the rate with which were are currently going, 0.15-1.02 billion tons of CO2 is released annually. Tropical forest areas only consist of 2-6% of mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrass meadows. Still, when these areas are destroyed they become responsible for 3-19% of carbon emissions from global deforestation.
One of the main reasons why the blue carbon ecosystems are being degraded is human activities. Agriculture, aquaculture, forest exploitation, and many more. These things will only continue and be a major cause of climate change if nothing is done soon.
As more awareness is spreading around the world, more policies and strategies are being used to conserve and restore coastal ecosystems or to have them develop. In fact, many countries and organizations around the world are coming together to implement a coastal blue carbon site-level demonstration project. This is enough evidence to show how the conservation process is taking place around the world for such coastal ecosystems.
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