Coastal Ecosystems are a Vital, Net Greenhouse Gas Sink | The Conversation
Inke Forbrich contributed to the Nature Climate Change article summarized below when she was a research scientist at the MBL Ecosystems Center.
Coastal ecosystems can absorb or emit the three main greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.
We explored how coasts in ten regions of the world differ in greenhouse gas uptake and emissions. Our research published today in Nature Climate Change finds that, globally, our coastal ecosystems are a net greenhouse gas sink, but smaller emissions of potent methane and nitrous oxide gases reduce some of the carbon dioxide uptake.
We found coasts in Europe and Russia are net emitters, while coasts in Southeast Asia and North America have a large uptake of these gases. Read rest of the article here.