[Levin]

Barry Neild, CNN • Updated 4th August 2022


Al Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi (CNN) — An intensely salty sea which warms to planet-beating temperatures at the height of summer is a hostile place for most vegetation to survive.
Yet in one corner of Abu Dhabi, where briny waters lap sun-scorched shoreline, there's a forest not only surviving, but thriving -- creating a natural sanctuary for wildlife and an extraordinarily peaceful escape from the intensity of the UAE's desert and cities.

......

Government and private planting programs have led to an expansion of mangrove areas in recent years, both at Jubail but also Abu Dhabi's Eastern Mangrove Park. For every tree lost to development elsewhere, three more are planted.

This is an environmental success story, says John Burt, associate professor of biology at New York University Abu Dhabi

......

They're important as a "blue carbon sink," a marine ecosystem that takes in more carbon than it puts out, says Burt.

"They're sucking CO2 out of the atmosphere through photosynthesis and a lot of that energy is going into the root system," he says. "And when they die ... all the CO2 it pulled out of the atmosphere will stay there.

......

His team is looking at specific genes in the local plants that are associated with "environmental robustness" including resistance to salt and to extreme temperatures, both hot and cold.

"I think that'll be useful information for looking at a place like Indonesia or Thailand and wondering what's going to happen to adapt for climate change," he says.



12 other photos at: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/a...index.html

[Rainforest]

Barry Neild, CNN • Updated 4th August 2022


Al Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi (CNN) — An intensely salty sea which warms to planet-beating temperatures at the height of summer is a hostile place for most vegetation to survive.
Yet in one corner of Abu Dhabi, where briny waters lap sun-scorched shoreline, there's a forest not only surviving, but thriving -- creating a natural sanctuary for wildlife and an extraordinarily peaceful escape from the intensity of the UAE's desert and cities.

......

Government and private planting programs have led to an expansion of mangrove areas in recent years, both at Jubail but also Abu Dhabi's Eastern Mangrove Park. For every tree lost to development elsewhere, three more are planted.

This is an environmental success story, says John Burt, associate professor of biology at New York University Abu Dhabi

......

They're important as a "blue carbon sink," a marine ecosystem that takes in more carbon than it puts out, says Burt.

"They're sucking CO2 out of the atmosphere through photosynthesis and a lot of that energy is going into the root system," he says. "And when they die ... all the CO2 it pulled out of the atmosphere will stay there.

......

His team is looking at specific genes in the local plants that are associated with "environmental robustness" including resistance to salt and to extreme temperatures, both hot and cold.

"I think that'll be useful information for looking at a place like Indonesia or Thailand and wondering what's going to happen to adapt for climate change," he says.



12 other photos at: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/a...index.html

the best article i read so far! so happy to read this