I have been talking a lot on this blog about the issues with finding scientifically accurate information But again, a Twitter thread (from Prof Gattuso, you can follow him here ) AND a discussion with a journalist on the same day made me realise that there is still plenty of things to discuss Specifically the ‘mantras’ that are still perpetuated, maybe for the right reasons (like calling for environmental protection) but adding the confusion and actually spreading misinformation So today I will try to break a few of these down and provide some suggestions to stop the misinformation spread
‘The oceans provide 50% of the air we breathe’ This is not entirely true . Yes, the oceans are full of photosynthetic organisms (algae, phytoplankton, some plants…) but nearly all of it is consumed within the ocean ecosystem. So, while the mantra may sound good in speeches, is actually wrong ‘During one year, a mature tree will absorb more than 48 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere’ This seems to be the common number thrown out there by divulgative sources but truly no scientific reference can be found for this . How much a tree would absorb will depend on the species , location , conditions .. I would expect to see a very large standard deviation around that number , even assuming is the right mean… ‘It is estimated that carbon accumulation rate per unit area is 30–50 times higher in coastal wetlands than in forest ecosystems’ - This hits me right up in the heart of some recent research, because it is not so easy to quantify , because wetlands are very heterogeneous and so are forests . Actually this claim is google fault . When you ask google it brings up a paper with this sentence , referencing THIS original paper. That doesn’t exactly say that.. or anyway it does in a much more nuanced way explaining all uncertainties and sources of variation. Ramsar info sheet also doesn’t quite do the right job , pooling together all wetlands but then proceeding to give numbers for peatlands which, quite frankly, can be very different from other wetlands systems Another myth that we propagate without quite knowing the processes is related to mollusks acting as carbon sinks , something that it is still debated , as calcification also releases some co2, and I recommend to follow my research space for more work coming up , or follow again prof Gattuso , one of the leaders on the calcification and acidification fields . So for the practical tips :
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