http://www.newsweek.com/great-barrier-reef-climate-change-blue-carbon-seagrass-carbon-sink-1253855

The Great Barrier Reef has a meadow of deep-water seagrass that acts as a huge blue carbon sink, scientists have discovered. The seagrass, which covers an area twice the size of New Jersey, stores almost 28 million tonnes of organic carbon—and could be helping to ward off climate change.

Blue carbon is a term used for carbon that is captured by marine systems, including mangroves, seagrasses and salt marshes. Peter Macreadie, from Deakin University in Australia, had previously investigated the coastal seagrass in terms of their potential to store carbon.