EDITORIAL
The coastal blue carbon: An important tool
in the fight against global warming
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
reported that human activities, principally through emissions of
greenhouse gases, have unequivocally caused global warming,
with global surface temperature reaching 1.1°C above 1850-
1900in 2011-2020. Global greenhouse gas emissions have
continued to increase, with unequal historical and ongoing
contributions arising from unsustainable energy use, land use and
land-use change, lifestyles, and consumption and production
patterns across regions, between and within countries, and
among individuals.
The IPCC foresees that global warming will continue to
increase in the near term (2021-2040), and every increment of
global warming will intensify multiple and concurrent hazards –
heat waves and droughts become more frequent, current 1-in-
100 year extreme sea level events are projected to occur at least
annually in more than half of all tide gauge locations by 2100,
tropical cyclones and/or extratropical storms (medium
confidence), and increases in aridity and fire weather.
(https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6
_SYR_SPM.pdf)
Aside from reforestation and other climate change
interventions we already know, coastal blue carbon management
is considered one of the important tools to combat global
warming.
A healthy coastal habitat is not only important for seafood
and recreation, it also plays an important role in reducing climate
change. Salt marshes, mangroves, and seagrass beds absorb
large quantities of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere and store it, thus decreasing the effects of global
warming. These types of habitats are known as carbon sinks and
contain large stores of carbon accumulated over hundreds to
thousands of years. Using more scientific lingo, coastal blue
carbon is the carbon captured by living coastal and marine
organisms and stored in coastal ecosystems.
Current studies suggest that mangroves and coastal wetlands
annually sequester carbon at a rate ten times greater than
mature tropical forests. They also store three to five times more
carbon per equivalent area than tropical forests. Most coastal blue
carbon is stored in the soil, not in above-ground plant materials
as with tropical forests.
(https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/ecosystems/coastal-blue-carbon/)
Blue carbon ecosystems (mangroves, saltmarshes, and
seagrass) are degraded and destroyed globally due to human
activities. Common causes include: reclamation of land for
construction, deforestation for timber and development,
conversion to aquaculture ponds, terrestrial and marine pollution,
and coastal development. Nutrient runoff from agriculture,
siltation, and development have led to seagrass decline, and
mangroves and salt marshes have been damaged by dredging,
filling, diking, drainage, and invasive species. These impacts are
expected to continue and will likely be exacerbated by climate
change and population growth.
(https://reefresilience.org/management-strategies/blue-
carbon/blue-carbon-introduction/ecosystem-loss/)
The foregoing results of scientific studies should be the
compelling reason for our Tagbilaran City government to
reconsider its plan to dump and fill a large portion of Tagbilaran
Bay in the guise of growth and development. While a jungle of
concrete structures may be mistakenly believed to be a sign of
progress, it exacerbates the great divide between the rich and the
poor. To attain real progress for the city, our city officials should
focus on reducing income inequality and poverty without using
the environment as a sacrificial lamb to perpetuate political
power.