Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF – FriYay/Goodnews

~ John W. Howell
Today’s good news story comes from the Good News Network. Here is in its entireity.

National Marine Sanctuaries

Australia’s Ocean Kelp Forest is Growing at Light Speed–Rivaling the Mighty Amazon for Absorbing CO2

By Andy Corbley

 

Great forests of ocean kelp were found in a recent study to be between 4 and 11-times more productive than the most productive crops grown today like wheat, corn, and rice.

On land, the fastest growth rates occur in the tropics, but in the ocean, the most productive ecosystems are found in the temperate zones, where cool, nutrient-rich waters create forests of golden, bull, and bamboo kelp that can grow 100 feet tall (35 meters).

This was the result of a global diving survey organized by the University of Western Australia, during which they found the most productive sea forests outgrow even the mighty Amazon Rainforest.

These most productive forests came from South Australia and South Africa, where can be found the Great Southern Reef and the Great African Sea Forest, respectively.

The Great African Sea Forest is believed to be expanding in size, unlike many other mega undersea habitats. Made up of bamboo kelp and containing huge amounts of biodiversity, it stretches over 400 miles from Cape Town’s waters to Namibia’s, nourished by an Antarctic current known as the “Benguela upwelling.”

The Great Southern Reef in Australia is fringed by a golden kelp forest stretching 5,000 miles across the continent’s coast. Next to the golden kelp, bull kelp can grow at a rate of 14 centimeters per day.

“On land, we can use satellites to measure tree growth, but underwater things are much more complicated as most satellites cannot make measurements at the depths kelp forests are found,” Dr. Albert Pessarrodona from the university’s Oceans Institute and School of Biological Sciences, told the Sydney Morning Herald.

To get around this fact, divers around the world compiled productivity reports on kelp forests, which were then compared and analyzed for nutrient levels, sun penetration, and wave exposure.

The findings were that tropical forests were not the most productive and that those from the temperate zones contain kelps that can grow 11-times faster than wheat, corn, or rice.

This mass natural production aids in the world’s food security, the authors found, and nowhere is this more demonstrated than in Indonesia. The aquaculture of their seaweed forests creates products as varied as bioplastics alongside ice cream.

As well as assisting in human flourishing, these forests play a critical role in the global carbon cycle by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Much like their productivity is much higher than their terrestrial counterparts, the rate at which they absorb CO2 has been measured to be 30x faster than trees on the land.

Scientists from the non-profit Great Southern Reef estimate that if just 0.001% of the ocean’s surface was cultivated with these productive forests, it would offset the emissions of the entire global aquaculture industry.

The good news here is hope for the continued renewal of the Earth. Today’s JohnKu talks about carbon emissions. I hope you have a great weekend.

Air by John W. Howell © 2022

Air contains a lot:

Carbon, oxygen, and dirt . . .

Our goal: clean it up.

101 thoughts on “Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF – FriYay/Goodnews”

        1. There is a liberal blogger who continually espouses the emission mantra now complaining about losing power several times a week. Yes he lives in California where many of the cars are electric and are unsupported by the infrastructure. Made my day

          Liked by 1 person

  31. A wonderful, informative article! I’m thrilled we (man) hasn’t killed off everything.
    Your JohnKu made me chuckle. YES, we must clean it up!
    Here’s a few 🧽🧽🧽 to help you do your share.
    This is what I am doing: https://www.sheridancollege.ca/newsroom/articles/arts-design/sheridan-graduate-sews-to-save-environment – It’s an article on my Art Gowns from my Alma Mater Alumni magazine. They say I am sewing to save the environment! xoxo

    Liked by 1 person

        4. 🍷🍷Cheers! ..hic..okay 1 more before dinner 🍷clink🍷 Where the hell did the ox go?
          🎼 Where have all the oxen gone
          🎶 Gone to emoji, every one
          🎶 When will we ever learn
          🎼 Soon I hope, I yearn

          hic! XOZxoxo -Hey how did that Z get in?

          Liked by 1 person

        6. You thought a zebra in? You know if there is one, there is a herd! Of course I adore zebras. Okay you sneaky son of a gun, you win this one! 🙄 Sigh 🥰🥰🥰

          Like

  34. Pingback: Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF – FriYay/Goodnews – Kingceo

Comments are closed.