A natural or artificial reservoir that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical compound for an indefinite period. It is a natural or artificial reservoir that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical compound for an indefinite period.
The oceans, forests and soil are natural carbon sinks. Carbon sinks absorb carbon dioxide to thereby reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and delay the sordid effects of global warming. Carbon sinks tend to absorb a substantial volume of carbon dioxide while releasing a minimal amount. This is contrary to carbon dioxide sources, such as industry, that absorb little of the compound while releasing a huge volume. We are on the threshold of tiptoeing on a very delicate balance.  You won’t find it in your kitchen or bathroom: Carbon sinks are natural systems that suck up and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The main natural carbon sinks are plants, the ocean and soil. Plants grab carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to use in photosynthesis; some of this carbon is transferred to soil as plants die and decompose. The oceans are a major carbon storage system for carbon dioxide. Carbon is released to the atmosphere from what are called carbon sources and stored in plants, animals, rocks, and water in what are called carbon sinks.. This process occurs in a number of steps. Carbon Moves between Sources and Sinks. One important aspect of the carbon cycle is the speed with which carbon moves from a carbon source to a carbon sink and then back again. Some living things grow and decompose more quickly than others. Carbon Sinks 101. A carbon sink is anything that absorbs more carbon that it releases whilst a carbon source is anything that releases more carbon than they absorb. Forests, soils, oceans and the atmosphere all store carbon and this carbon moves between them in a continuous cycle.  Oceans are natural CO 2 sinks, and represent the largest active carbon sink on Earth, absorbing more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans put into the air. This role as a sink for CO 2 is driven by two processes, the solubility pump and the biological pump. This article is part of the Coal Issues portal on SourceWatch, a project of CoalSwarm and the Center for Media and Democracy. See here for help on adding material to CoalSwarm. A carbon sink is a natural or manmade reservoir that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical compound for an indefinite period. The main natural sinks are: The role of land as a carbon sink — or source — depends on the balance between plant growth and photosynthesis, which absorb carbon dioxide, and the process of respiration by both plants and microbes in the soil, which releases it.  A carbon sink is a natural or artificial reservoir that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical compound for an indefinite period. The process by which carbon sinks remove carbon dioxide (CO 2) from the atmosphere is known as carbon sequestration. Public awareness of the significance of CO 2 sinks has grown since passage of the Kyoto Protocol, which promotes their use as a form of carbon offset. Forests are carbon stores, and they are carbon dioxide sinks when they are increasing in density or area. In Canada's boreal forests as much as 80% of the total carbon is stored in the soils as dead organic matter. A carbon sink is anything that absorbs more carbon that it releases, whilst a carbon source is anything that releases more carbon than is absorb. Forests, soils, oceans and the atmosphere all store carbon and this carbon moves between them in a continuous cycle. This constant movement of carbon means that forests act as sources or sinks at different times. Not all stores of carbon are naturally cursed with such fluctuations however. In the context of climate change, the most important carbon stores are fossil fuel deposits as they have the unique benefit of being buried deep inside the earth, naturally separated from the carbon cycling in the atmosphere. Because of this increase in atmospheric carbon, a lot of emphasis and hope has been put into the ability of trees, other plants and the soil to temporarily sink the carbon that fossil fuel burning releases into
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what is a carbon sink