20 Mar 2024

Our Changing World – Fiordland’s secrets

From Afternoons, 3:35 pm on 20 March 2024
Two men dressed in bright yellow and blue boat overalls are steadying a shiny metal piece of equipment that looks like a moon lander as it is lowered beside the boat. In the background you can see a fiord landscape - lush mountains, dark sea, low cloud and waterfalls.

The multicorer – an instrument designed to take samples from the seabed while barely disturbing it – is carefully lowered into Doubtful Sound. Photo: © Richard Robinson

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To avert the worst of the climate crisis we need to reduce our emissions. One way is to phase out fossil fuels, to leave forms of carbon like oil and gas locked up in the ground. But we can also look at ways to lock up more carbon, long term. And some options for this are in our oceans.  

The champ of champs 

Between 6–10 metres of rain falls in Fiordland each year. An incredible amount. It’s part of what powers the forest-to-fiord carbon storage pump that makes Fiordland exceptionally good at locking away large amounts of carbon long-term.  Something scientists are only beginning to understand.       

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Photo: NZ On Air

Voice of Tangaroa is a joint production between RNZ’s Our Changing World and New Zealand Geographic. 

Reporting for this series is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air. You can learn more and read the articles for free at www.nzgeo.com/seas