Minister for Seaweed!

[Swinglowandslow]

Forgive the daft title, but with the climate crisis( which I think it is, a crisis) upon us, I have read a little about the power of seaweed, kelp etc to soak up carbon .
Some think it does it at least as much ( if not more) as trees.

Certainly it is agreed that it soaks carbon, so why is it left to individual companies to promote and use this aid.
Every government of a country with a coastline could implement the planting of this stuff all around them and manage and control this on a national basis. If there were a big enough international drive to get this stuff working , surely it would be a possible game changer, or at least a massive help.

I don't sea? a downside to this.?

Any comments?

 

[clubchamp98]

Forgive the daft title, but with the climate crisis( which I think it is, a crisis) upon us, I have read a little about the power of seaweed, kelp etc to soak up carbon .
Some think it does it at least as much ( if not more) as trees.

Certainly it is agreed that it soaks carbon, so why is it left to individual companies to promote and use this aid.
Every government of a country with a coastline could implement the planting of this stuff all around them and manage and control this on a national basis. If there were a big enough international drive to get this stuff working , surely it would be a possible game changer, or at least a massive help.

I don't sea? a downside to this.?

Any comments?

Part of the problems we are having is because we are messing with nature.
It might affect wildlife fish/ seals etc.
Unintended consequences only come to light years later.
We are in this mess because we are burning the planet.
The answer is stop burning fossil fuels not trying to offset it.
In my humble opinion of course.

 

[Crow]

Once the carbon has been captured by the seaweed it needs to be retained somewhere.
Trees do this in their wood, but this rots down eventually and the carbon is released, I'd imagine seaweed rots pretty quickly once dead and the carbon would be released.
It would be a cycle of store and release so once seaweed is fully planted that's it

I think peat bogs are one of the best things as little decay takes place and so the dead plant material just builds up as peat, captured carbon.

 

[Swinglowandslow]

I don't think this is a case of "or" but rather of "and"
I fully agree that the quicker we stop burning fossil fuels the better.
( burning them releases the carbon dioxide, which is the "heater upperer "" of the planet.)
However, we are also exacerbating the problem by destroying the things which mainly convert carbon dioxide to oxygen. I.e Trees.
We have messed badly with the Rain Forests.
We have grown our population with no thought of consequences,and as we are units who have the useful (to us?) habit of breathing thus taking up oxygen and sending out carbon dioxide, that doesn't help either!
So, all in all, we are on a slippery road that is taking us near to the edge.
On the basis that every little helps, and if seaweed takes up carbon as much as trees do ( as some contend), then there is a case for examining the effects of vast increases in seaweed.
Maybe there is a downside, but there is certainly an upside ,with plenty of coasts available worldwide in which to grow the stuff, so let's get coordinated and check it out.

We could also put the accelerator on the research into nuclear fusion. Crack that and we probably will get in the clear.

 

[IanM]

Can seaweed identify the source of the carbon?

Apparently that's really important.

 

[SocketRocket]

The biggest threat to the planet through climate change and the depletion of natural resources is created by the actions of Homo Sapiens. The obvious solution to reducing the creation of carbon dioxide and restoring a natural equilibrium with nature is to reduce their numbers to a level that gives the planet a chance to recover.