Carbon Sinks
Is There a More Climate-Friendly Way to Manage Our Forests?
The logging industry argues that cutting down old-growth trees is good for forest management, but the science says otherwise.
Increasing Frequency of Drought Is Changing the Amazon From Carbon Sink to Source
New research finds just one season of drought can reduce the carbon dioxide absorption ability of the world's biggest rainforest—the Amazon—for years to come.
Human-Caused Fires Are Destroying the Amazon
A new study using a combination of data sources finds that fire is causing more degradation of forests than logging, the other most significant driver of loss in the Amazon.
Tropical Forests Are Not the Carbon Sinks We Thought They Were
A new study shows that tropical forests emit more carbon than they consume, mostly due to human activities.
How Giant Icebergs Can Help Fight Climate Change
Melting icebergs leave behind a trail of nutrients that seeds the growth of tiny, carbon-sequestering marine organisms.
Warmer Nights Could Turn the Tropics Into a Major Carbon Source
Rising nighttime temperatures in the tropics threaten to flip the region from a carbon sink to a carbon source.
Is Seagrass in Danger?
A new study finds cause for concern—and a sliver of hope—in disturbed seagrass meadows off the coast of Australia.
Sedentary Seabed Creatures Create a Carbon Sink
New research finds that, as sea ice disappears, filter feeders are flourishing on the sea floor, and in the process are locking up carbon in their tissues as they grow.
Sequestering Carbon in Undersea Forests of Seagrass
Seagrass meadows are some of the most productive ecosystems on the planet. New research shows that they’re enormous carbon sinks, too.
Cooling the Asphalt Jungle
As green roofs proliferate to cool and cheer cityscapes, might they also suck up and store some of the carbon urban life pumps out?
Sinking Feelings About Storing Carbon Emissions on the Farm
Climate legislation says we can stop global warming, improve our soils and help our farmers all at once. Not so fast.
A Second Life For Orbiting Carbon Observatory?
As the need to measure carbon absorption takes on global political and environmental import, researchers are rushing to resurrect a project that literally crashed and sank.
Vulcan Logic and the Missing Sink
Researchers studying a mashup of existing data are tracking exactly where carbon is entering — and exiting — the atmosphere.