Sinks are for cleaning up

Areas that absorb and hold onto lots of carbon dioxide are called carbon “sinks”. There are three main carbon sinks in the world:

Sink 1: Oceans

The oceans take up carbon dioxide by absorbing and dissolving it into the water, the way that carbon dioxide is stored in a bottled soft drink! Much of this ends up in the deep ocean.

Sink 2: Soil

Dirt is more than just dirt. Pick up a handful and you will be holding billions of micro organisms and bacteria. These microscopic things nibble on plants and trees as the vegetation dies and break the plants and trees down into carbon and nutrients. This carbon is stored in the ground everywhere in the world, even in permafrost areas. But when we disturb the soil, we speed up the release of the stored carbon. Logging and farming are two large-scale ways we disturb the soil. Melting permafrost will also release carbon dioxide.

Sink 3: Forests and Vegetation

Plants and trees breathe in and absorb carbon dioxide as they turn the sun’s energy into food through a process called photosynthesis. When trees and plants die or burn in fires, they release this absorbed carbon to the soil and to the atmosphere.

Source: http://www.climatechangenorth.ca/section-BG/BG_HS_03_O_E.html