It’s not often I get to opportunity show my work in an actual gallery these days such is the plight of the socially engaged / process based artist, and it makes me remember how much I love the process of developing a dialogue with other artists and the space of gallery. And it is a delight to be showing along side some amazing artists. @verdant.city @adelecjordan@mishkahenner and @rebeccachesneyartist @galleryoldham A Minute to Midnight December 7 – March 1, 2025
So how does moss relate to climate change? Here are some interesting facts I put together for @sparkartistsnetwork and the forthcoming panel discussion:
Moss is under threat: According to the 2023 IUCN Red List of the of moss in Britain , 19% are threatened with extinction.
According to the British Bryological Society, over 75 moss species in the UK are considered threatened or endangered, primarily due to habitat loss, climate change, and air pollution. (1)
It is estimated that moss (specifically soil covering moss, covers an area of more than 3.6 million square miles – that’s roughly the same size Canada or China. A recently published comprehensive global study titled ‘The global contribution of soil mosses to ecosystem services (2024) – highlighted the critical role of soil mosses in global carbon sequestration – They found that mosses sequester around 6.43 GT more carbon in the soil than is stored in the bare patches of soil without any plants typically found nearby them in global semi-arid areas”(2)
Apparently Sphagnum, store about one-third of the world’s soil carbon despite covering just 3%-5% of Earth’s land surface. (3)
Just for reference – Globally, forests store roughly 45% of the carbon stored on land.
Feel free to correct me if you have evidence to counter this or suggestions for corrections
(1)Source: British Bryological Society (2023) “Status of UK Bryophytes Report” https://britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/
(2)The global contribution of soil mosses to ecosystem services
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370441558_The_global_contribution_of_soil_mosses_to_ecosystem_services
(3)https://www.ornl.gov/news/scientists-find-sex-differences-mosses-play-key-role-carbon-storage
