Carbon dioxide sinks capture and store carbon dioxide, reducing the amount released into the atmosphere. Carbon sequestration removes carbon from the air, storing it while releasing oxygen. Natural sinks include immature forests, oceans, and soils, while artificial sinks involve storing carbon dioxide in rock or deep in the oceans. The Kyoto Protocol allows countries to use large carbon dioxide sinks to deduct their actual emissions.
A carbon dioxide sink is a natural or man-made resource that captures and stores carbon dioxide. It’s good for the environment because it reduces the amount of carbon dioxide, an important greenhouse gas, that could otherwise be released into the atmosphere.
The process by which a carbon dioxide sink removes carbon from the air is called carbon sequestration. During these processes, the carbon is separated and stored leaving the oxygen. Trees and plants naturally absorb carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, sequestering the carbon and converting it into mass as they release oxygen back into the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide is a natural gas produced by animal respiration, the decomposition of organic matter, and the burning of fossil fuels and wood. The problem people currently face is the excessive burning of fossil fuels, which overwhelms nature’s natural recycling process. A carbon dioxide sink, along with other aggressive conservation efforts, helps reduce global warming’s growing negative impact on the environment.
Natural sinks of carbon dioxide include immature forests, oceans and soils. While older forests are mature, forests still require carbon dioxide to survive, they are not considered as useful for this purpose as immature forests because young vegetation needs significantly more carbon dioxide to build up its mass. Artificial sinks can involve sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in rock, injecting it deep into the oceans, or causing chemical reactions that transform carbon dioxide into less harmful compounds.
The Kyoto Protocol allows countries to use sufficiently large sinks of carbon dioxide as a resource from which they can deduct their actual carbon dioxide emissions. An example of this type would be large forested areas and reserves. The use of agricultural land as a well is not currently permitted under this cap and trade system.
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