Did you know that saving animals has an extremely positive and impactful effect on the world? And not just because they are cute, fun and nice to admire. But research has shown that certain land animals and sea creatures can effect the amount of carbon dioxide that is absorbed by plants, therefore helping the ecosystem as well. And that is great news!
With the steady decline in number of many of Earth’s creatures, studies have shown that this can actually speed up global warming because of higher CO2 levels. Yes, plants eat up a lot of the carbon dioxide out there. But animals can also clean up the emissions.
For example, sea otters eat sea urchin, and sea urchin eat kelp. In areas along the Pacific coast where otters were abundant, there was a drop in sea urchin and an elevation in the amount of kelp. And kelp devours CO2. In one particular study from 2012, sea otters were indirectly responsible for eradicating 8.7 million tons of carson dioxide. And that is a huge amount of gas, considering the average coal power plant emits less than half of that a year.
Similarly, once wildebeests were reintroduced into the African savanna in the 20th century after a sharp decline in numbers, vegetation and plants flourished. And the savanna began absorbing 1 million tons of CO2 per year.
It’s a pretty amazing phenomenon and one that will continue to be studied. And the point is that conservation is certainly worth it because we are not only saving animal lives, but mother nature as well.
What do you think about this? Comment below!
