New study suggests whales can help fight climate change better than trees

7 Mar 2020

New study suggests whales can help fight climate change better than trees

New study suggests whales can help fight climate change better than treesHere's a whale of a good news on the fight against climate change. It appears that whales could be one of our greatest allies in the fight against climate change. Yes, even more than trees!

Trees are often called the “lungs of the world.” They take in carbon dioxide and give out oxygen.
 	But this title could easily belong to phytoplankton, which alone refresh nearly 50% of the atmospheric oxygen on Earth—the value of four Amazon jungles.

What are phytoplankton?

Phytoplankton are microscopic marine algae. They provide food for a wide range of sea creatures including whales, shrimp, snails and jellyfish.
 	They themselves feed on huge amounts of whale excrement - er, poo that the whales leave behind them, especially blue whales.
 	Thus, phytoplankton populations increase wherever whales are.

This natural process taking place underwater has excited scores of climate-conscious investors at the recent World Economic Forum.

In his paper, Dr Chiami, an economist at the International Monetary Fund, suggests that a significant effort should be made to encourage the growth and protection of whale populations.
 	“At a minimum, even a 1% increase in phytoplankton productivity thanks to whale activity would capture hundreds of millions of tons of additional CO2 a year, equivalent to the sudden appearance of 2 billion mature trees,” writes Chiami.

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