Notably, freshwater wetlands and tidal marshes exhibited the highest remaining tea mass, suggesting a greater potential for carbon storage in these areas.

Different types of tea bags were employed in the study, with green tea decomposing more rapidly in freshwater wetlands compared to mangrove and seagrass wetlands, while rooibos tea consistently decayed faster at higher temperatures.

Researchers buried 40 to 80 tea bags at each wetland site, approximately 15 cm deep, and collected them over three years to analyze their remaining organic mass and carbon preservation.

The collaborative nature of the study is highlighted by the involvement of 110 co-authors, including contributors from institutions such as Deakin University and the University of Copenhagen.

These findings enhance the understanding of global carbon sequestration and underscore the importance of protecting wetlands from environmental changes.

Next steps for the researchers include integrating this data with studies of land-based carbon sinks to improve predictive global models for carbon storage.

A groundbreaking study led by Dr. Stacey Trevathan-Tackett from RMIT University has utilized tea bags on a large scale to measure carbon sequestration in wetlands, with findings published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

This global research involved burying 19,000 tea bags across 180 wetlands in 28 countries, revealing that warmer temperatures may significantly decrease the carbon stored in these ecosystems.

The study indicates that increased temperatures generally accelerate the decay of organic matter, leading to reduced carbon preservation in wetland soils.