Scope and potential of coastal ecosystem towards mitigating climate change
11 Feb 2021
- The coastal ecosystems — Mangroves, Sea grasses, and Tidal marshes — commonly referred to as blue carbon ecosystems store half the "blue" carbon buried beneath the ocean floor.
- The carbon that is stored in the coastal ecosystems remain trapped for very long periods of time and thus resulting in very large carbon stock.
- The carbon stock in these ecosystems and the existing or potential carbon emissions must be quantified.
- Mangroves are fairly well mapped, large areas containing seagrass meadows are largely surveyed but areas of tidal salt marsh are un-surveyed and un-documented.
- The key role of blue carbon in mitigating climate change remains unrecognized with considerable unutilized potential to meet climate targets.