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Seaweed as a resilient food solution after a nuclear war

  • F. U. Jehn, F. J. Dingal, A. Mill, C. S. Harrison, E. Ilin, M. Y. Roleda, S. C. James, D. C. Denkenberger
Published in Earth's Future on:
09 January 2024

Summary

This study explores the potential of seaweed as a sustainable food source in an Abrupt Sunlight Reduction Scenario (ASRS), where sunlight is significantly reduced due to events such as a nuclear war, an asteroid impact, or a volcanic eruption. It indicates that seaweed could play a crucial role in mitigating global food shortages during ASRS events, offering a scalable, low-tech solution adaptable to severe environmental disruptions.

Abrupt Sunlight Reduction Scenario (ASRS), Nuclear winter, Food & supply chains, Aquaculture (inc. seaweed, fishing), Cost-effectiveness

Abstract

Abrupt sunlight reduction scenarios such as a nuclear winter caused by the burning of cities in a nuclear war, an asteroid/comet impact or an eruption of a large volcano inject large amounts of particles in the atmosphere, which limit sunlight. This could decimate agriculture as it is practiced today. We therefore need resilient food sources for such an event. One promising candidate is seaweed, as it can grow quickly in a wide range of environmental conditions. To explore the feasibility of seaweed after nuclear war, we simulate the growth of seaweed on a global scale using an empirical model based on Gracilaria tikvahiae forced by nuclear winter climate simulations. We assess how quickly global seaweed production could be scaled to provide a significant fraction of global food demand. We find seaweed can be grown in tropical oceans, even after nuclear war. The simulated growth is high enough to allow a scale up to an equivalent of 45% of the global human food demand (spread among food, animal feed, and biofuels) in around 9–14 months, while only using a small fraction of the global ocean area. The main limiting factor being the speed at which new seaweed farms can be built. The results also show that the growth of seaweed increases with the severity of the nuclear war, as more nutrients become available due to increased vertical mixing. This means that seaweed has the potential to be a viable resilient food source for abrupt sunlight reduction scenarios.

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