Fish play an important role in mitigating the impacts of climate change!
A new scientific study from Rutgers University reports the roughly 1.65 billion tons of carbon in annual marine fish poop makes up about 16 percent of the total carbon that sinks and is stored below the ocean’s upper layers.
Carbon sinks are reservoirs that absorb more carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere than they release. The ocean is one of the main natural carbon sinks, absorbing around one-third of global CO2 emissions.
“Carbon that makes its way below the sunlit layer becomes sequestered, or stored, in the ocean for hundreds of years or more, depending on the depth and location where organic carbon is exported,” said lead author Grace K. Saba, a professor at Rutgers University. “This natural process results in a sink that acts to balance the sources of carbon dioxide.”
Another reason to stop overfishing our oceans!
