00:00 [Music]
00:06 Salt marshes are really efficient at capturing carbon.
00:09 [Music]
00:14 That comes down to three main processes.
00:16 So we have the plant growth, so capturing CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.
00:21 And then we have sediments coming in with the tide, which can settle out,
00:26 and this helps further bury that carbon.
00:28 And then the anoxic sediments, where there's very little oxygen,
00:31 that reduces the decomposition, which allows that carbon to remain stored for long periods of time.
00:37 And so this doesn't happen in that many environments.
00:39 It doesn't happen in some terrestrial environments, where the soils are naturally much more aerated.
00:44 They wouldn't have the same carbon stock as salt marshes.
00:47 Another advantage of salt marshes is that they don't emit as much methane,
00:52 a potential greenhouse gas, compared to freshwater wetlands,
00:56 as studies at the University College Dublin confirm.
00:59 Normally an ecosystem would also emit more methane to the atmosphere,
01:04 but because of the salinity in the seawater, the methane production is actually mitigated.
01:10 So we have less methane emission from coastal wetland plants than we have from freshwater plants.
01:15 [MUSIC]
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