A new study has shed light on how oysters help remove planet-heating carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. 

The results make a strong case for oyster farming as a viable way to cool down the Earth and create food at the same time, according to Phys.org. 

Oysters are a special marine animal. They strain pollutants out of the water around them, store carbon in their shells, and create seafloor sediment that is full of nutrients and stores even more carbon. 

Yet studies also show that oysters add some carbon back into the environment as they breathe and make those shells. 

To understand how this equation positively balances out, a research team based in China studied tanks full of Pacific oysters for four months. 

Some tanks had many oysters, some had a few, and control groups had none. The scientists collected data on what was happening inside each tank. These measurements included the levels of both carbon and phytoplankton, which is one of the building blocks of marine food chains. 

As Phys.org reported, this experiment revealed that while individual oysters naturally give and take carbon throughout their lives, their presence boosts phytoplankton numbers in the wider aquatic environment. Since those tiny organisms use photosynthesis, they suck up carbon and pump out oxygen in the water surrounding oysters. 

"At the ecosystem scale, photosynthesis is significantly enhanced and emerges as the dominant process," the researchers wrote in the study. 

The team found that this domino effect is a big part of how oysters can remove more carbon than they produce. 

That means coastal communities can count on these creatures to make a difference in their waters and draw down that harmful gas from the atmosphere. Doing so keeps the planet cooler, the air cleaner, and humans safer. 

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Plus, those who enjoy some fresh shellfish topped with lemon likely won't mind the extra incentive to farm oysters. 

Granted, researchers also found that the tanks with the most oysters in one spot suppressed the environmental benefits, while a moderate density led to the best results. Additional studies are needed to fully understand this complex underwater system, they explained in the study. 

The full findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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