4 Examples of Carbon Sinks Found on Earth

In the battle against climate change, nature itself has its own tools to try to prevent the planet’s average temperature from rising, in addition to people’s efforts to mitigate and adapt to the consequences of global warming.

To accomplish this, some examples of carbon sinks—natural deposits such as forests and oceans, as well as manufactured ones such as specific technologies and chemicals—that absorb and collect atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and lower its concentration are used.

Because they operate as sponges to absorb the carbon compounds that are playing such a significant part in global climate change, carbon sinks are crucial for protecting our ecosystem. Carbon sinks are essentially storage facilities for carbon or carbon-based chemicals, such as carbon dioxide (CO2).

The Earth’s hard granite crust is one of the biggest carbon storage areas. Sedimentary rocks, which were created over eons, are rich in carbon molecules, including the hydrocarbons that serve as today’s fossil fuels.

Despite the tremendous quantity of carbon that sedimentary rocks can store, they are not regarded as carbon sinks because they no longer take in more carbon than is primarily released by volcanic eruptions. In truth, a large portion of the extra CO2 in our atmosphere is a result of man’s usage of fossil fuels.

Table of Contents

What is a Carbon Sink?

Anything that removes more carbon from the atmosphere than it absorbs is referred to as a “carbon sink.” Examples include soil, plants, and the ocean. A carbon source, on the other hand, is anything that adds more carbon to the atmosphere than it takes in, such as the combustion of fossil fuels or volcanic eruptions.

A carbon sink is a natural or artificial reservoir that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical compounds for an indefinite period. The process by which carbon sinks remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere is known as carbon sequestration.
Wikipedia

That said, an excellent example of how carbon is always changing forms is the fact that eons and eons ago, the development of sedimentary rocks absorbed more carbon than was released.

A large portion of the carbon on Earth is in flux, switching back and forth between sources and sinks. Carbon sinks are the most important component of this cycle, known as the global carbon cycle.

Burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas) for energy and transportation, as well as fires, are the main sources of carbon (which also includes wildfires) and farmland.

Carbon sinks can be both natural and artificial. They are carbon sinks because they absorb more carbon than they emit, whereas carbon sources are anything that emits more carbon than they do.

Carbon is stored in forests, soil, the ocean, and the atmosphere, and it is continuously cycled between these many storage sites.

In the process of photosynthesis, plants absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. Some of this carbon is transferred to the soil as plants perish and degrade. Major carbon storage systems exist in the oceans.

Half of the carbon dioxide emissions are absorbed by Earth’s land and oceans collectively. The process of carbon sequestration involves removing carbon from the atmosphere to lessen the consequences of global warming.

Examples of Carbon Sinks Found on Earth

The carbon sinks are predominantly natural carbon sinks, but there are other carbon sinks created by man.

1. The Ocean

Since they can remove around 50% of the carbon released into the atmosphere, the oceans are regarded as the primary natural carbon sink.

Since mankind started burning fossil fuels for energy during the Industrial Revolution, the ocean has absorbed around 25% of the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere.

Plankton, corals, fish, algae, and other photosynthetic bacteria, in particular, are in charge of this capture.

The main carbon sinks are the oceans, which may remove up to 50% of CO2.

The primary factor making the ocean one of the largest carbon sinks is phytoplankton. These tiny marine bacteria and algae contribute significantly to the global carbon cycle by absorbing almost the same amount of carbon as all the plants and trees on land put together.

However, because of the plastic pollution in our ocean, plankton are consuming microplastics, which has an effect on how quickly they are able to sequester carbon. We are fighting to end plastic pollution by using the law.

2. Forests

Each year, 2.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide are absorbed by the world’s forests. But despite their critical value, a football field-sized area is destroyed every second.

Through photosynthesis, forests and other wooded habitats take in carbon. Plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, store part of it, and release oxygen back into the atmosphere.

One of the most significant natural carbon sinks in the world, the Amazon is the biggest and best-known tropical rainforest in the world, making up little over a third of the tropical tree cover.

Their function is more crucial than ever, particularly in light of the exponential rise in global carbon emissions over the past few decades.

However, due to deforestation and an increase in wildfires, current studies show that the Amazon releases more carbon dioxide than it can absorb.

The ability of mangroves to absorb and store carbon from the atmosphere is also highly respected; in fact, they have been shown to be more effective carbon sinks than forests.

In comparison to terrestrial forests, mangroves have been found to absorb roughly ten times as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. With 23% of the global mangrove environment, Indonesia currently has the largest mangrove ecosystem in the world.

Seagrass has been discovered to be a very powerful carbon sink, as well as to be incredibly successful in repairing oceans and purifying water, according to recent studies in what has been labeled the world’s largest seagrass project.

We advocate for the conservation and sustainable use of forests. This initiative focuses on three key areas: improving laws, empowering forest people, and preventing illegal logging and trading.

3. Soil

The soil on Earth absorbs about 25% of all emissions produced by humans annually, with a major percentage of this retained as peatland or permafrost.

However, it is in danger due to the rise in global food demand, chemical pollution, and climate change. We are promoting a modified agriculture model. We favor stricter legislation to safeguard our soil.

4. Artificial Carbon Sinks

There are artificial methods that remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the earth’s crust in order to improve and speed up the natural process of sequestration.

In order to store CO2, man-made carbon sinks can be built, and used in existing subsurface formations, or even the oceans.

Landfills and methods for capturing and storing carbon are the principal artificial sinks.

An effective illustration of man-made carbon sinks is artificial carbon sequestration. You may be familiar with clean coal.

Well, the idea behind clean coal is to basically store or bury the CO2 that coal-fired power stations emit for all time.

There is now a lot of research being done in this field, including:

Capturing CO2 and storing it underground in empty rock formations that once contained fossil fuels, such as depleted oil reservoirs or the ocean floor.
Replicating the mineral carbonation process, which converts natural minerals into carbonate rocks like limestone by using CO2.
Iron fertilization of the ocean’s surface promotes the growth of microorganisms.
Making “artificial trees” with leaves coated with substances (such as sodium carbonate) that absorb CO2 from the atmosphere.

However, these technologies lack the effectiveness and maturity required to deal with the drastic shifts that climate change brings, and occasionally, in dire situations, CO2 escapes the man-made sinks (carbon leakage).