Carbon sinks
A carbon sink is a natural or artificial reservoir that stores CO2 outside of the atmosphere:
- either by destroying it through chemical processes,
- or by storing it in another form.
CO2 is stored in ocean water, vegetation, or underground. Forests and oceans absorb about half of the carbon emissions, but these sinks are threatened by climate change.
Natural carbon sinks
Artificial carbon sinks
The carbon sinks used by humans are primarily those that are already present in nature: forests and soils. However, there are completely artificial carbon sinks, entirely manufactured by humans that first capture GHG and then sequester them. In recent years, geological sequestration has been used: this involves directly injecting carbon dioxide underground, for example into former oil wells.
