Polar Oceans' Carbon Sequestration Potential Underestimated in Climate Change Mitigation Policies
A new review by an international team of polar scientists, published within the Horizon Europe project POMP, highlights that polar oceans, including the Arctic and Antarctic, are largely unrecognized in global blue-carbon approaches for climate change mitigation. These regions, which constitute about 20% of the global ocean, are experiencing rapid environmental changes, with parts of the Arctic warming at up to four times the global average. While traditional blue-carbon strategies focus on tropical and temperate coastal ecosystems like mangroves and salt marshes, polar ecosystems also play a significant role in capturing and storing carbon. The review categorizes polar blue-carbon habitats, noting strong evidence for carbon storage in Arctic salt marshes and seagrass meadows. Other pathways, such as kelp, phytoplankton, and carbon stored in deep-sea sediments, are less understood but are expanding or contributing to carbon sequestration. The study emphasizes that current scientific and policy frameworks a...
