Reference Terms

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Carbon dioxide sink

A carbon dioxide (CO2) sink is a carbon reservoir that is increasing in size, and is the opposite of a carbon "source".

The main natural sinks are the oceans and plants and other organisms that use photosynthesis to remove carbon from the atmosphere by incorporating it into biomass.

This concept of CO2 sinks has become more widely known because of its role in the Kyoto Protocol.

Carbon sequestration is the term describing processes that remove carbon from the atmosphere.

To help mitigate global warming, a variety of means of artificially capturing and storing carbon, as well as of enhancing natural sequestration processes, are being explored.

Note: The above text is excerpted from the Wikipedia article "Carbon dioxide sink", which has been released under the GNU Free Documentation License.

For more information, see the following related content on ScienceDaily:

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Apr. 15, 2015 — Soil carbon may not be as stable as previously thought, scientists report, adding that soil microbes exert more direct control on carbon buildup than global climate models represent. This study, ... read more

Sequestration and Fuel Reserves: Storing Carbon Dioxide to Release Liquid Fuels

July 30, 2013 — A technique for trapping the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide deep underground could at the same be used to release the last fraction of natural gas liquids from ailing reservoirs, thus offsetting some ... read more

Is the Airborne Fraction of Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Increasing?

Dec. 31, 2009 — Most of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activity does not remain in the atmosphere, but is instead absorbed by the oceans and terrestrial ecosystems. However, some studies have suggested that the ... read more

Global Warming From Carbon Dioxide Will Increase Five-Fold Over The Next Millennium, Scientists Predict

Jan. 29, 2009 — Scientists have found that heating from carbon dioxide will increase five-fold over the next ... read more

Carbon Dioxide Findings Raise Biodiversity Concern

Feb. 2, 1999 — Office and cubicle denizens rely on their Boston ferns or spider plants to help rid the air of so-called indoor pollution. Can utility companies adopt a similar strategy, mitigating their carbon ... read more

Lots of Carbon Dioxide Equivalents from Aquatic Environments

Mar. 24, 2014 — Large amounts of carbon dioxide equivalents taken up by plants on land are returned to the atmosphere from aquatic environments. The findings were that emissions of carbon dioxide equivalents (as ... read more

Air Traffic Poised to Become a Major Factor in Global Warming, Scientists Predict

May 31, 2010 — The first new projections of future aircraft emissions in 10 years predict that carbon dioxide and other gases from air traffic will become a significant source of global warming as they double or ... read more

Cleaning The Atmosphere Of Carbon: African Forests Out Of Balance

Mar. 2, 2009 — Carbon held in African forests is on the rise, but there's no simple explanation. The two most likely explanations are that forests are responding to high atmospheric carbon dioxide or that they ... read more

U.S. Carbon Storage: Land Use Dominates Carbon Dioxide, Climate

Mar. 20, 2000 — A new study, published in the March 17 issue of Science, has found that land use, more than atmospheric carbon dioxide or the vagaries of climate, controls how much carbon is stored each year across ... read more

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