Carbon Sinks and Global Climate Change :: Environment Earth Papers

Carbon sinks micturate been a hot topic surrounding world(prenominal) climate channel. To go through this debate it is first essential to understand what light speed sinks ar and what they do. Plants produce the natural ability to soak up degree Celsius dioxide from atmosphere, storing it as carbon. In relation to global climate metamorphose, plants, especially trees, can help to affiance some of the carbon dioxide that humans have emitted into the atmosphere. This becomes one possible resultant role in mitigating climate change. As with many possible solutions to climate change, in that location are positive and nix sides of carbon sinks as a moderation option. There is also quite a divergence of viewpoints between countries. The loose of carbon sinks continues to be debated today. Is this an area in which consensus and cooperation can occur? Unfortunately, this has unspoiled been another area in which there has been controversy in global environmental politics. Afte r an in depth look at the negative and positive aspects of carbon sinks in relation to global climate change, it seems at this time the negative aspects outweigh the positive. Due to scientific uncertainty, an inadequate observe and measuring system, as well as a lack of rules and guidelines, the function of carbon sinks will prove to be more of a business than a solution to the global climate change problem. First of all, what are carbon sinks? The earth contains various natural stocks or reservoirs of carbon. These stocks can be found in the ocean, lumbers, soils, and the atmosphere. When one of these stocks releases carbon, such(prenominal) as when a forest is reduced by fire, decomposition, or deforestation, it is known as a extension of carbon. When these stocks scoop carbon they are called sinks (Sedjo, 4). The ocean can hold the approximately carbon it contains about fifty times as much carbon as the atmosphere. Forests and soils contain about 3.5 times as much carbon as the atmosphere (Kolshus, 2). This paper mostly focuses on carbon sinks in forests because it is currently the subject under debate in the climate change regime. Sinks can be used to mitigate global climate change in two ways either by producing new forests to absorb the carbon, or by preventing the release of carbon into the atmosphere through actions such as deforestation (Pagiola, 25). However, currently there is a lack of consensus as to how much carbon can actually be absorbed by these sinks.