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Carbon sink
From CopperWiki
A carbon sink is a positive natural reservoir of carbon. It always takes in more carbon than it releases both in the short and the long run. Carbon sinks can be in the form of geological formations, forests, oceans —- anything that takes more carbon out of the atmosphere than it releases. So a bamboo or a jute forest will be a rich carbon sink.
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[edit] Why should I be aware of this?
Most of the carbon on the earth is stored in forests, soil, oceans and the atmosphere. This carbon moves among the different stores over time. With emissions increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, global warming and climate change are serious concerns. Opting for green living, green commute, even green schools for our kids and making our businesses green by going for green buildings are commendable steps. But they are not enough as we have difficulty in taking drastic measures to reduce our carbon footprint. It is here that the role of cabon sink assumes great importance.
Forests can act as sources of sinks at different times: Sources release more carbon than they absorb while sinks soak up more carbon than they emit.
Understanding the carbon sink and how it can save our planet can be a powerful tool in reducing global warming.
[edit] All about carbon sinks
The concept of carbon sinks is based on the natural ability of trees, other plants and the soil to soak up carbon dioxide and temporarily store the carbon in wood, roots, leaves and the soil.
Global carbon is held in a variety of different stocks. Natural stocks include oceans, fossil fuel deposits, the terrestrial system and the atmosphere. In the terrestrial system carbon can be stored in
- Rocks and sediments
- Swamps
- Wetlands
- Forests
- Soils of forests
- Grasslands and agriculture.
About two-thirds of the globe’s terrestrial carbon, exclusive of that sequestered in rocks and sediments, is sequestered in the standing forests, forest understory plants, leaf and forest debris, and in forest soils.
[edit] How forest ecosystems act as sinks
Oceans, soils and forests all offer some potential to be managed as a sink, that is, to promote net carbon sequestration. Forests in carbon sequestration is probably best understood and appears to offer the greatest near-term potential for human management as a sink. Unlike many plants and most crops, which have short lives or release much of their carbon at the end of each season, forest biomass accumulates carbon over decades and centuries. Furthermore, carbon accumulation potential in forests is large enough that forests offer the possibility of sequestering significant amounts of additional carbon in relatively short periods of just decades.
There are four components of carbon storage in a forest ecosystem. These are:
- Trees
- Plants growing on the forest floor
- Leaf litter and other decaying matter on the forest floor
- Forest soils.
When forest is converted to some other use, there is a net loss of carbon in the terrestrial stock since most other land uses will sequester less carbon than the forest. Under these circumstances net carbon transfers occur. If the site is cleared and the vegetation burned, most of the carbon is released into the atmosphere.
[edit] Important global carbon sinks
- Africa -- The carbon captured through photosynthesis by Africa's vast expanse of forests and savannas, is much more than the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere as a result of deforestation, fires and forest degradation, thereby making Africa an important 'carbon sink'.[1]
[edit] What can I do?
- The huge potential of agricultural soils to reduce greenhouse gases and increase production at the same time has been reinforced by new research findings at NSW Department of Primary Industries’ (DPI) Wollongbar Agricultural Institute in Australia.[2]
- Applying organic fertilizers, such as those resulting from composting, to agricultural land could increase the amount of carbon stored in these soils and contribute significantly to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, according to new research.[3]
[edit] Unlearn
Fire-derived charcoal is thought to be an important carbon sink. However, a SLU paper in Science shows that charcoal promotes soil microbes and causes a large loss of soil carbon.[4]
[edit] 90 degrees
The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica may be impairing the Southern Ocean's ability to mop up carbon dioxide from Earth's atmosphere. Recent measurements show that the Southern Ocean's surface waters have higher carbon levels than expected, which also makes them more acidic. As a result, the amount of carbon dioxide that the ocean absorbs each year has also flattened out.[5]
[edit] CopperBytes
- Earth's oceans are the largest sink of carbon dioxide, with the Southern Ocean accounting for more than 40% of the annual oceanic uptake of the greenhouse gas.[5]
- Eighty percent of the forests that originally covered the earth have been cleared, fragmented, or otherwise degraded.[6]
- Many environmental scientists dispute a provision of the Kyoto Protocol that allows nations to trade designated "carbon sink" forest reserves for additional carbon emissions.[7]
- Several activist groups are reporting increased occurrences of human rights violations near established carbon sinks in developing countries, including forced relocation and unfairly low salaries for those employed to care for the forests.[7]
[edit] References
[edit] Source
- ↑ UN: 'Carbon sink' Africa counters greenhouse gases' impact
- ↑ Soils Offer New Hope As Carbon Sink; ScienceDaily
- ↑ Compost Can Turn Agricultural Soils Into A Carbon Sink, Thus Protecting Against Climate Change; ScienceDaily
- ↑ Of Charcoal As An Effective Carbon Sink; SciencDaily
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ozone hole weakens oceanic carbon sink
- ↑ Carbon Sinks, Forests and Climate Change
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 National Geographic;Carbon Crisis
