Keywords

Carbon, sinks, environment, absorption, natural, artificial, man-made, large area

Introduction

A carbon sink is a natural or man-made source that absorbs carbon, and releases only a smaller amount back into the atmosphere.

Natural Resources

To think of it as a shoe box, you can fill that shoe box with more than just shoes, right? I mean, there's still space around the shoe to fit other, smaller items around it. So, in terms of the box, you could put sand in it, for example. Go on, on top of the shoes. That's good. Now, what if I want to remove the shoes? Well, you can, but they may be covered in sand.

To put that into natural perspective, let's look at an ocean. They are vast, and there are seven of them. The ocean takes up to 50% of the carbon from the atmosphere and repurposes it. How? Well, in the ocean are organisms that use it for energy. Much like trees (we'll come to that) do the same thing, so do plankton, photosynthetic organisms and algae. They photosynthesis or "breathe in" the carbon in some form, and release oxygen.

So, what about the trees? Oh yes, they are a carbon sink also, and they photosynthesise, which uses the carbon to create oxygen and energy. They, however, do not create as much as the algae and oceans do in terms of oxygen, nor do they take in as much carbon.

Artificial Techniques

So, we've covered the natural resources and how they work in carbon sinks, but what about man-made techniques?

Well, there are many ways to do this, like sequestering carbon from the atmosphere and moving it down into the lower crust of the Earth. This type of technology is still in it's infancy, and it has not yet become powerful enough to help combat climate change.