How would marine plants lower global temperatures?

Question

How would marine plants lower global temperatures?

Answer 1

Marine plants, all plants put water into the air, and so force the air to provide the heat to absorb it.

That is what the text book tells us. But water vapor is always over the oceans, kept there at whatever level current temperatures demand. Whether we have plants putting the water into the air or not, we end up with the same (temperature driven) level of water vapour.

Also, when the water vapour condenses to form cloud, the energy of evaporation is returned to the air.

The leaves of plants may or may not increase reflectivity. Many plants reduce reflectivity.

When plants absorb solar energy and convert it to sugars, starches, there is less heat around than would have been the case had the sun been absorbed by the water. But when the plants decompose, all of that energy is returned to the environment, along with the CO2 originally absorbed.

Marine plants do not represent a way to get long term sequestration of CO2 unless they are in deep enough water to drop very deeply instead of decomposing.

I think the net effect is a wash... no long term cooling effect.

Answer 2

they put oxygen back in the water. a lot of our C02 goes into the sea

Answer 3

Plants absorb CO2 so assuming CO2 is causing warming then less CO2 equals cooler world-right? And growing plants in the ocean would be good for the oxygen level too. The ocean at this time is desert like because two or three elements needed to grow plants are scarce just like water is rare in deserts. Put the right stuff in the ocean and it will grow plants very fast. They also absorb solar energy.