Seaweed Forests Offer Marine Hope

Scientists have discovered kelp forests in the tropics, raising hopes over the ability of marine life to survive global warming, according to a study. Coral reefs were thought to be the only hotspots of marine life in the tropics but scientists have now found kelp forests in waters long thought to be too warm for the seaweed. Temperate water kelp forests, just like coral reefs, are havens for marine biodiversity and could be vital as global warming increasingly affects the oceans. The seaweed is traditionally not thought to be an obvious tropical "resident" because it requires cool water and lots of light. But scientists from California, Canada and Ecuador developed a model to determine whether regions of the tropics had the light, nutrients and low temperatures kelp needs to survive. According to the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, they combined data about kelp's physiological requirements with oceanographic data from the surface to the seabed. The results revealed an area of more than 8,880 square miles in which sunlight and nutrients were intense enough for kelp to flourish, and the temperature was not too high...