Carbon dioxide sinks

As the prominence of global warming increases, there is growing interest in methods of reduce carbon dioxide in our atmosphere . Maximizing natural carbon absorption is one way to tackle climate change. Forests, Oceans, and soil can all absorb carbon dioxide from our atmosphere and are called carbon dioxide sinks. Scientists are looking at how to maximize carbon dioxide sinks to reduce the as much carbon dioxide as possible.

A carbon dioxide sink is a reservoir that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Some major natural sinks are forest, oceans, and soils. Artificial carbon sinks include carbon capture methods, otherwise know as carbon sequestration. that include pumping CO2 into retired oil fields and plant

Forests, soils, oceans and the atmosphere all store carbon, which moves among those different carbon pools over time; these four different carbon stores form the active carbon pool. If one of these pools absorbs more carbon than it gives off, it is called a 'sink'

Forests

Through photosynthesis, plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, store the carbon in sugars, starch and cellulose, and release the oxygen into the atmosphere. A young forest, composed of growing trees, absorbs carbon dioxide and acts as a sink. Mature forests, made up of a mix of various aged trees as well as dead and decaying matter, may be carbon neutral above ground. In the soil, however, the gradual buildup of slowly decaying organic material will continue to accumulate carbon, but at a slower rate than an immature forest.

Oceans

Oceans are natural CO2 sinks, and represent the largest active carbon sink on Earth. Carbon Dioxide is soluble in water, and is can be absorbed by a solubility pump method or biological pump method. Scientist estimate oceans have absorbed about 118 million tons of CO2, or maybe a third of the fossil fuel emissions. One adverse effect of the increased CO2 absorption is that it is believed to be making seawater more acidic. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, which were about 280 parts per million by volume (ppmv) in 1880, increased to 367 ppmv by 2000 and are expected to reach from 463 to 623 ppmv by 2050. An increase to 560 ppmv would cause an estimated 30% reduction in the carbonate ion concentration in the upper ocean and affect both skeletal growth rates and the structural growth of reefs.

Soil

Soils contain more carbon than vegetation and the atmosphere combined. All of the soil on earth contains approximately 2000 billion tonnes of carbon in various forms at any one time. When fungi and bacteria decompose organisms, a small amount of carbon dioxide is returned to the atmosphere. Humans conversion of soils from natural to agricultural use has led to losses in soil carbon sinks. Soil disturbance, such as ploughing, can cause the loss of substantial amounts of soil carbon which would otherwise decompose more slowly.

Sensitive land-use practices such as 'no-till' farming, is key to balancing the soil carbon sink. research is looking into ways to replace the loss of carbon from soils that has occurred in recent years. Land-use remains a major area of research and how it relates to man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Soils' carbon levels develop when temperatures are below 25 degrees centigrade. In warmer temperature the soil is losses its carbon and becomes more oxidized. Tropical forests, for example, are good at recycling the nutrients they contain which contributes to their lushness in an otherwise nutrient desert.

More environmental science articles.