Destroyed Coastal Habitats Produce Significant Greenhouse Gas

Destroyed Coastal Habitats Produ…

“These coastal ecosystems are a tiny ribbon of land, only 6 percent of the land area covered by tropical forest, but the emissions from their destruction are nearly one-fifth of those attributed to deforestation worldwide,” said Linwood Pendleton, the study’s co-lead author and director of the Ocean and Coastal Policy Program at the Nicholas Institute. “One hectare, or roughly two acres of coastal marsh, can contain the same amount of carbon as 488 cars produce in a year. Comparatively, destroying a hectare of mangroves could produce as much greenhouse gas emissions as cutting down three to five hectares of tropical forest.”

Full article: http://greenbuildingelements.com/2012/09/07/destroyed-coa...