Natural carbon sequestering in the oceans

The Sydney Morning Herald

Scientists at the CSIRO believe that salps - jellyfish-like animals - may be acting as a inherent form of combating global warming. Salps eat photo-plankton which absorb carbon dioxide in the upper levels of the ocean and in effect sequester the carbon in their faeces, which falls to the ocean floor. Populations of salps in the waters around Sydney are believed to be ten times higher now than when first surveyed in the 1930s, leading scientist to believe that their increase in numbers might be part of a natural process to help reduce carbon dioxide build-ups in the atmosphere.

posted by steve on November 17, 2008 at 11:02 am · filed under