Photo: EAD72/Depositphotos
What’s the value of seaweed?
A new study published inNature Communicationssuggest the value of the sea plant goes far beyond sushi.
The team focused on six kinds of kelp which grow in dense thickets known as forests.
Photo: EAD72/Depositphotos
About 1,500 species of fish and marine life live in these forests.
This sea life supports commercial fisheries and food supplies.
They added this value to the other benefits of kelp.
A giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) forest in Southern California. (Photo: TIMBALCOMB/Depositphotos)
This helps preserve the quality of our waters.
Testing seaweed gave researchers insight into how much the plants absorb.
In total, these kelp forests provide two main benefits.
They support $465 to $562 billion per year of the global economy.
They also sink almost five million tons of carbon dioxide.
This wonder plant is part of a climate-friendly future in multiple ways.
A giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) forest in Southern California.
