A carbon sink is a natural or artificial reservoir that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical compound for an indefinite period. The process by which carbon sinks remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere is known as carbon sequestration. Public awareness of the significance of CO2 sinks has grown since passage of the Kyoto Protocol, which promotes their use as a form of carbon offset.
The main natural sinks are:
- Absorption of carbon dioxide by the oceans via physicochemical and biological processes
- Photosynthesis by terrestrial plants
Natural sinks are typically much larger than artificial sinks. The main artificial sinks are:
- Landfills
- Carbon capture and storage proposals
Carbon sources include:
- Fires (by combustion)
- Farmland (by animal respiration); there are proposals for improvements in farming practices to reverse this.
Read more about Carbon Sink: Kyoto Protocol, Artificial Sequestration, Trends in Sink Performance
Famous quotes containing the word sink:
“After reading Howitt’s account of the Australian gold-diggings one evening,... I asked myself why I might not be washing some gold daily, though it were only the finest particles,—why I might not sink a shaft down to the gold within me, and work that mine.... At any rate, I might pursue some path, however solitary and narrow and crooked, in which I could walk with love and reverence.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)