Blue carbon audit of Orkney waters

• Main Authors: Porter, Joanne, Austin, William, Burrows, Michael, Clarke, Duncan, Davies, Gareth, Kamenos, Nick, Riegel, Simone, Smeaton, Craig, Page, Christopher, Want, Andrew
• Format: Book
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Carbonate system; Blue carbon; Marine environment; Marine ecosystems; Climate change; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/file/4152638/1/Book; https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4152638; https://doi.org/10.7489/12262-1

In May 2019, the Scottish Government declared a global climate emergency in response to climatic change linked to elevated CO2 levels in the atmosphere. The most obvious effects of climate change include increased atmospheric and sea surface temperatures, ocean acidification, and greater occurrences of {\textquoteleft}extreme{\textquoteright} weather events. While the world{\textquoteright}s ocean forms the largest natural {\textquoteleft}sink{\textquoteright} for carbon, the rate of capture and storage in sea water is reduced by increasing levels of atmospheric CO2, rising global temperatures, and stratification of the surface ocean.The term {\textquoteleft}blue carbon{\textquoteright} has been used to describe carbon stored in the marine environment. As part of the Scottish Government{\textquoteright}s objectives to lead the world in adopting evidence-based policies to mitigate climate change, an audit of blue carbon resources has been commissioned for the waters around the Orkney Islands archipelago. This report is the most comprehensive regional audit of blue carbon resources to date.Blue carbon refers to carbon captured by biological metabolic processes, i.e. in the soft tissues, shells, and skeletons of plants and animals, and buried in the marine environment in sediment. In some regions this may also include carbon of terrigenous origin. In this audit, the evaluation of carbon storage includes shallow habitats created by marine organisms, and also, the resources stored in surface marine sediments. Once living tissue dies, the resulting organic carbon in biological material may be transported, and ultimately deposited and accumulated in seabed sediments. Carbon stocks in sediments that accumulate in this fashion may remain stored over far longer time scales, for example in the hundreds of years to thousands of years and in much larger amounts than stocks found in biological habitats, although the longevity of certain biological features, such as reefs, is poorly understood.Currently, detailed understanding ...