Ice cold disasters that shook the planet
According to Winberg, the fast growth rate of seaweed and its ability to absorb vast amounts of CO2 means that it can be instrumental in battling climate change.
One naturally occurring species that has until now gone relatively unexplored is seaweed. Enter Pia Winberg, a marine ecologist at the University of Wollongong.
She also believes that seaweed can help to deacidify oceans and revolutionize farming, both in the oceans and on land.
A favorite tactic when it comes to reducing CO2 emissions is to plant forests, and researchers are even exploring the benefits of restoring whale populations.
A great believer in the potential of seaweed, in 2013 Winberg decided to open Australia’s first land-based, commercial seaweed farm.
Over the past few years, there has been a growing interest in the ability of plants and animals to assist in the fight against climate change.
The farm is situated in New South Wales and currently it produces seaweed extracts for use in commodities that include food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.
Nowadays seaweed farming is a multi-billion dollar industry in Asia, and China is responsible for more than half of the annual harvest.
According to Winberg, if farmed on a greater scale, seaweed could even replace plastic as the main material for packaging and common animal feeds such as corn.
There is a growing interest in the cultivation of seaweed in Australia and elsewhere around the world because it is both sustainable and commercially viable.
Currently, Australia is still far behind Asia when it comes to the cultivation of algae. Japanese commercial algae farming took off as early as the 1950s.
Seaweed is able to combat climate change in the same way as land-based plants: when it photosynthesizes, it absorbs CO2 and grows biomass.
And yet according to one 2018 study at the University of California, Irvine, seaweed can itself help to lower the acid level in its immediate environment.
Seaweed plants also have the advantage over land plants in that when they die, they sink and take their trapped CO2 with them to the ocean floor.
Currently, it is estimated that algae plants sequester around 200 million tonnes of CO2 every year. That’s the equivalent of the annual emissions of New York State!
Unfortunately, the reserves of seaweed themselves are threatened by climate change. The absorption of CO2 by the oceans increases their acidity, which damages seaweed ecosystems.
Over the past 80 years, 95% of Tasmania’s kelp seaweed forests have perished at the hands of rising ocean temperatures and increased acidity.
According to Winberg, "If you have more seaweeds taking up more carbon dioxide than what is produced, you actually offset acidification and return [the ecosystem] to the state life can persist in.”
By removing acid from the oceans, seaweed can also help shellfish such as oysters and mussels, whose shells become brittle in acidic waters, to grow.
According to Halley Froehlich, who is a marine scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, there is globally a huge untapped potential for seaweed cultivation.
Froehlich is the lead author on a study that concluded there is 48 million sq km (18.5 million sq miles) of ocean where seaweed could be grown.
According to research conducted at the University of California, Davis, seaweed may even be able to make cattle farming itself more sustainable.
The marine ecologist turned farmer has stated that one hectare of a seaweed farm has the potential to produce more protein than a hectare of cattle farm.
Indeed, the World Bank estimates that if seaweed production increases by 14% every year until 2050, it could increase global food supplies by 10%.
Winberg also believes that seaweed has potential as a sustainable food source. To quote her, "We're sitting on undiscovered, renewable, sustainable resources.”
And apparently it doesn’t take much: just one or two ounces of seaweed can reduce methane output by 80% or even more.
The research shows that feeding seaweed to cows significantly reduces the amount of methane, a destructive greenhouse gas, they produce.
The same study concluded that seaweed farming in 3.8% of the federal waters off the coast of California could offset all CO2 emission of the state’s farming industry.
Researchers are now looking at whether the meat and milk from cows that have consumed seaweed is safe for human consumption.
In many countries around the world, seaweed cultivation is just taking off. But if the material really is as wonderful as it seems, we may well be seeing a lot more of the stuff.
Sources: (BBC)
See also: How whales help to combat climate change
The fact that plants make good allies in the fight against climate change is nothing new. For instance, for years now we have been planting forests because trees are so great at absorbing CO2. However, one species that has until recently received little attention is seaweed.
Convinced of seaweed's potential to absorb CO2, deacidify oceans, and even revolutionize farming, one marine ecologist in New South Wales launched Australia’s first land-based, commercial seaweed farm. Intrigued? Check out this gallery to learn about the untapped potential of seaweed.
Tapping the potential of Australian algae
How seaweed may help save the world from climate change
LIFESTYLE Environment
The fact that plants make good allies in the fight against climate change is nothing new. For instance, for years now we have been planting forests because trees are so great at absorbing CO2. However, one species that has until recently received little attention is seaweed.
Convinced of seaweed's potential to absorb CO2, deacidify oceans, and even revolutionize farming, one marine ecologist in New South Wales launched Australia’s first land-based, commercial seaweed farm. Intrigued? Check out this gallery to learn about the untapped potential of seaweed.