The Gift of Kelp

The Santa Barbara Independent

4-2-2022

Rick Wayman

What a gift that scientists based in our coastal community are studying the conditions under which kelp forests can thrive (“Seeing the Kelp Amid the Forest at UC Santa Barbara”). I’m all for better ice cream and better toothpaste to clean my teeth afterward. But what has me so enthusiastic about kelp is its ability to sequester massive amounts of excess carbon dioxide that humans have released into the atmosphere since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.