What is Carbon sink?

Carbon sinks are all the factors, natural, biological, or technical, that absorb and accumulate carbon for a long time. In the majority, they absorb the atmosphere’s carbon dioxide (CO₂) and store it as CO₂ or convert it to carbon-containing compounds (e.g., lignin). The movement of CO₂ from the atmosphere to the carbon sinks reduces the greenhouse effect. Ocean, soil, fossil fuels, and forests are the main carbon sinks. A fraction of earth’s carbon can be found in the ocean, diluted in water as CO₂. With the rise in temperature due to climate change, CO₂’s solubility in water decreases, and the ocean expels it.

Soil contains more carbon than the entire atmosphere. Dead matter like carcasses and leaves and the soil organic matter represent the soil’s carbon. Fossil fuels are carbon compounds derived from living organisms buried millions of years ago. Burning fossil fuels affects the balance of carbon between the ground and the atmosphere. Plants on the land and marine life (animals, bacteria, archaea) represent the majority of live orgasms’ carbon. Human activities such as deforestation decrease stored carbon.