Protecting the world from the adverse affects of climate change, the Sunderbans forests play a crucial ecological role by acting as a carbon sink and absorbing more than four crore tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to a recent study.
Having 2,118 sq km of total mangrove forest cover, the Sunderbans have soaked in 4.15 crore tonnes of carbon dioxide, valued at around $79 billion in the international market, researchers from the University of Calcutta said.
“Mangrove trees act as a natural tank for carbon dioxide storage. They absorb carbon for their own needs, which is a boon for us. The more such biomass we have on earth, the more CO2 will be pulled from the atmosphere. This will ultimately result in controlling the rise of atmospheric temperature and the subsequent climate change,” Prof Abhijit Mitra, who led the research, told PTI.
This process of removing carbon from the atmosphere and depositing it in a reservoir is known as carbon sequestration.
As a primary greenhouse gas, large-scale CO2 emission is responsible for global warming as it leads to a rise in sea levels and temperature, adversely affecting agriculture, fishery and human health.
With funding from the Union Ministry of Earth Science and the State Forest Department, the two-year-long study of the carbon sequestration efficiency of the mangroves was done by the varsity’s Marine Science Department.
Out of the total amount of carbon tied up in earthbound forms, an estimated 90 per cent is contained in the world’s forests. For each cubic foot of merchantable wood produced in a tree, it has been estimated that about 15 kg of carbon is stored in total tree biomass.