Surrounding the Balearic Islands are one of the world’s most powerful natural defenses against climate change. The Posidonia seagras, nicknamed “immortal seagrass” has been known to live for thousands, and in some case, hundreds of thousands of years.
A strip of this plant has been proven to absorb 15 times more carbon dioxide than an equal sized piece of the Amazon Rainforest.
Ironically, this ancient and delicate plant is now under threat from climate change and tourism. Despite having survived for millennia, anchoring by tourist boats. crushing, tearing, and ripping the meadows. There are currently 55,000
The plant reproduces either sexually or asexually, cloning itself. Being one of the longest-lived organisms on the planet, it’s estimated that one clone came from a seed that was released and sprouted 200,000 years ago on the seafloor.
It’s estimated that Posidonia meadows in Formentera were reduced by 44% because of anchoring. Unfortunately, its growth is quite slow, taking almost 1,000 years to restore the damage suffered in a single day by one yacht’s anchor.
Ocean temperatures also have a large impact on the growth of the plant, having an upper limit of around 28C, or 82F. Almost half the summers since 2000 have exceeded that temperature inteh Balearic Islands.
While this alone wouldn’t necessarily cause large patches to die, the slow growth could be hindered by increasing temperatures.
A Solution to Climate Change and Seagrass?
While there isn’t a single simple solution to the problem facing Posidonia oceanica, public awareness and government action to protect and and stress the importance of the species is increasing.
Some researchers believe that countries trying to reach the goals of the Paris agreement may find themselves in higher need of carbon credits, which the plant can help with.
Allthough this is welcome news, it might not be enough. Human lifetimes are short, compared to that of an almost immortal seagrass, and rising temperatures aren’t going to be solved in a day.
Perhaps, if we could sit for a couple centuries…
