Seaweeds have long been known to be among the fastest growing plants on the planet, but to date, it's been very challenging to estimate how large an area their forests cover. Since most satellites cannot take measurements at the depths where underwater forests are found, scientists relied on millions of underwater records from scientific literature, online repositories, local herbaria and citizen science initiatives.
With this information, they modelled the global distribution of ocean forests, finding they cover between 6 million and 7.2 million square kilometers. That's larger than the Amazon!!
These findings are encouraging since, as they grow, seaweed pulls large quantities of carbon from seawater and the atmosphere, globally taking up as much carbon as the Amazon Rainforest. It is therefore crucial to ensure their protection and conservation worldwide
