Largest-ever effort to save carbon-reducing seagrass underway in Wales


Because it is able to absorb carbon dioxide up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests, seagrass has been dubbed the "wonder plant," able to help fight climate change.
"It is incredibly productive and just sucks carbon into the sediments, traps particles that are locked there for millennia," Dr. Richard Unsworth of Swansea University told BBC News. "That means that carbon dioxide is not in the atmosphere."
Seagrass, found in shallow waters, is a habitat for fish like cod and pollock and it helps protect areas from coastal erosion. As important as it is, seagrass has been disappearing at an alarming rate due to population growth around coastal areas; since 1990, it has declined globally at a rate of roughly 7 percent per year, and it's estimated that in the United Kingdom, up to 92 percent of seagrass has vanished over the last 100 years.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
That's why Unsworth is undertaking Britain's largest effort to save seagrass. By November, one million seeds will be planted into a seabed off Pembrokeshire in Wales. This will create a new 215,280-square-foot meadow, which should attract young fish and "start to kick into action a recovery for our seas around the UK," Unsworth said.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Do smartphone bans in schools work?
The Explainer Trials in UK, New Zealand, France and the US found prohibition may be only part of the solution
-
Doom: The Dark Ages – an 'exhilarating' prequel
The Week Recommends Legendary shooter adds new combat options from timed parries to melee attacks and a 'particularly satisfying' shield charge
-
7 US cities to explore on a microtrip
The Week Recommends Not enough vacation days? No problem.
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billion
Speed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on record
Speed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homes
Speed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creature
Speed Read