Are whales the solution to global warming? ( Science News )
0http://shorturl.at/nMPS7 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdI64z4KvNQr9C1NlDauJ9A https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdI64z4KvNQr9C1NlDauJ9A https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdI64z4KvNQr9C1NlDauJ9A Are whales the solution to global warming? ( Science News )
In a new study conducted in the USA, it was announced that whales play a critical role in global warming and climate change. It was emphasized that the whales, which are stated to perform the task that trees do on land in the seas, and that they have recently been the target of hunters, can absorb 1.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year if their numbers return to their previous levels.
It has been revealed that whales, whose hunting has increased and their numbers are decreasing day by day, have a critical role in the fight against global warming and climate change.
In previous studies, it was revealed that trees, in particular, absorb a large part of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, while the role played by trees on land is assumed by whales in the sea.
New research at marine sanctuaries in San Francisco, USA, has revealed that whales, who store large amounts of carbon in their bodies throughout their lives, take the stored carbon to the seafloor when they die, allowing a large amount of carbon to be trapped there.
It was emphasized that thanks to these sinking corpses, known as 'whale falls', carbon remains in the deep sea rather than being released into surface waters.
While the scientists who conducted the study reported that whale declines represent about 60 percent of annual carbon absorption, it was underlined that this amount is more than the combined efforts of seaweeds' carbon loads deep into the ocean and the so-called algae export and the carbon-capturing habitats of seaweed and salt marsh.
The report's authors say their findings are aimed at guiding the managers of Marine Protected Areas to better protection of climate-critical resources.
MORE THAN TWO-thirds of their population have disappeared
Despite this research, protecting whales is not something humans have historically been good at.
While millions of whales have been killed during millennia of industrial whaling, populations of marine giants have been wiped out by 66 to 90 percent for their meat, oil and other products, according to a 2014 study.
THEY CAN ABSORPT 1.7 MILLION CARBONS A YEAR
While scientists estimate that whale populations will have absorbed up to 1.9 million tons of carbon per year before whaling begins, the IMF states that if whales are allowed to return to their pre-hunting numbers, they could absorb 1.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year. nonstop news
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