4 ms·
This is a poor explanation in the article. The basic effect isn't hard to understand: A whale is a lot of biomass, i.e. they store carbon. Dead whales don't co
by hannob 6y ago
This is a poor explanation in the article.
The basic effect isn't hard to understand: A whale is a lot of biomass, i.e. they store carbon. Dead whales don't completely release all that carbon. And whales help other organisms thrive, which is more biomass and stored carbon.
Here's a better article on the effect:
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/12/natures-solution-to-climate-change-chami.htm https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/12/natures-s...
- phyzome 6y agoThat is also not what the article is saying, which is that whales eat krill which eat phytoplankton which "eat" CO2—more whales = more phytoplankton.
- Valgrim 6y agoWhales are a keystone species akin to wolves in Yellowstone, which prey on deer and allow a greater regeneration of plants. Whales also pump a large amount of nutrients to the surface because they eat deep water species and excrete near the surface when they breathe.