What is “Blue Carbon”?

Yes, this is an image of a mangrove, but did you know it is also an image of a sink? A carbon sink. Don’t know what that is? Read below.

Something that has a significant effect on our daily lives and is stored within the largest system of water on our planet must be a household name, right? Not necessarily. Have you ever heard of blue carbon? Chances are the answer is no, but perhaps you know more than you realize.

Blue carbon is simply the term for carbon captured by the world's ocean and coastal ecosystems. You have probably heard that human activities emit (or give off) something called carbon dioxide, which contains atmospheric carbon. You have also heard that these gases are changing the world's climate, and not in a good way. What you may not have heard is that our ocean and coasts provide a natural way of reducing the impact of greenhouse gases on our atmosphere, through sequestration (or taking in) of this carbon.

Sea grasses, mangroves, and salt marshes along our coast "capture and hold" carbon, acting as something called a carbon sink. These coastal systems, though much smaller in size than the planet's forests, sequester this carbon at a much faster rate, and can continue to do so for millions of years. Most of the carbon taken up by these ecosystems is stored below ground where we can't see it, but it is still there.

— Courtesy of National Ocean Service

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration