carbon sinks

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Planting a Trillion Trees: Noble Goal or Fool's Errand?

It's touted as a way to save the planet ... maybe

(Newser) - It's a number that's hard to wrap your head around, but a concept that is easy to grasp: Let's save the planet by planting 1 trillion trees. In a lengthy piece for the New York Times Magazine , Zach St. George examines the noble goal—how it originated,...

1% of Amazon's Tree Species Suck Half the Carbon

Big, long-lived trees dominate carbon sink

(Newser) - There are an estimated 16,000 different tree species in the Amazon rainforest—far more than in Europe and the US combined—but it's just a small fraction of them that do most of the carbon-capturing that's vital to the planet's health, according to new research. Just...

Oldest Trees are Fastest Growers
 Oldest Trees 
 Grow at a 
 Scary Rate 
STUDY SAYS
Jan 16, 2014 7:03 AM CST

Oldest Trees Grow at a Scary Rate

They keep 'growing like crazy' as they age

(Newser) - Conventional wisdom about forestry has been chopped down and sent through the chipper by new research that shows large, old trees grow much faster than their younger counterparts—and speed up their growth as they age, becoming stronger as the years go by. Researchers studied measurements of more than 670,...

'Carbon Saturation' Close for Europe's Forests

Carbon sink at risk, study warns

(Newser) - Yet more bad news for the climate: Europe's forests are approaching the peak of their ability to absorb carbon and may not be able to suck up the same level of emissions in future, according to a new study. Scientists say that while Europe is at its most forested...

Save the Rainforest? Nature May Have It Covered

New jungle in the tropics might outpace deforestation

(Newser) - With all the talk of how much primeval rainforest disappears every year, it might come as a surprise to hear that much more new forest is springing up to replace it. Although new jungle taking over abandoned or destroyed farms in tropical nations is good for the planet—the UN...

CO2 Catcher Could Slow Climate Change

Device in the works sucks greenhouse gas from the air

(Newser) - A team of American scientists says it's taken an important first step toward creating a so-called carbon scrubber that can rid greenhouse gases from the air, the Guardian reports. The scientists, led by a Columbia University physicist, have a prototype in the works that can suck a ton of carbon...

Oceans Are Absorbing Less CO2
Oceans Are Absorbing Less CO2
Oct 21, 2007 9:19 AM CDT

Oceans Are Absorbing Less CO2

(Newser) - Oceans are absorbing half the CO2 they were in the mid-'90s, according to a study that collected more than 90,000 North Atlantic measurements over 10 years. Oceans typically absorb about a quarter of the world’s carbon emissions, but the new data suggest they're becoming “saturated,” which...

Climate Change Accelerates
Climate Change Accelerates
May 18, 2007 9:59 AM CDT

Climate Change Accelerates

Global warming impedes oceans' carbon absorption, leading to ... global warming

(Newser) - Oceans that absorb a quarter of all the carbon belched into the atmosphere every day are losing their capacity to do so, accelerating global warming by as much as 30%. New research, which focuses on the compromised ability of Antarctica's Southern Ocean to soak up carbon emissions, suggests that climate...

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