Mangrove forests can store up to four times as much carbon as other forests and protect inland areas through complex root systems that absorb wave energy and hold mud and soil in place.

Soil is the largest terrestrial carbon sink on the planet, storing almost twice as much carbon as the atmosphere and all living plants and animals combined.

Microforests in urban environments may help combat climate change

Areas of densely packed native trees and drought-tolerant plants within cities can pull carbon dioxide from the air, cool surrounding neighborhoods, and support local wildlife. The idea behind microforests traces back over 50 years to Japanese ecologist Dr. Akira Miyawaki, who promoted planting whole ecosystems to restore degraded land.

Fungi have been used to restore island habitats in the central Pacific

After removing 1.5 million invasive coconut palm trees and eradicating the black rats that fed on them, as well as seabirds and crabs, conservationists working with the US Fish and Wildlife Service identified areas where fungi could be transplanted to provide nutrients to native trees. These trees serve as nesting sites for seabirds whose guano nourishes coral reefs.

Carbon sinks absorb more greenhouse gases than they produce

The largest on Earth are oceans, which capture 25% of all carbon emissions and 90% of excess atmospheric thermal radiation while generating half of the world's oxygen. Wildfires and deforestation have reduced forests' net sink capacity, though fungi are believed to capture and store over a third of global carbon emissions.

China's tree belt around the Taklamakan Desert has become a carbon sink

Decades of planting trees along the Taklamakan Desert in northwest China (the world's largest shifting-sand desert) have increased vegetation enough to create a measurable carbon sink, absorbing more carbon dioxide than the area emits. The effort demonstrates a key large-scale climate mitigation strategy, though it has raised concerns over water use and long-term sustainability.

Fig trees are considered keystone species because they provide year-round habitat and fruit, which are eaten by an estimated 1,300 species of birds and mammals worldwide.

Greenhouse gas removal consists of a series of techniques to capture and store GHGs

These include turning biomass into charcoal for storage in soil before it decays and releases carbon dioxide, crushing CO₂-absorbing rocks—increasing exposed surface area—and spreading them across land to accelerate GHG uptake, and restoring degraded peatlands, which can store twice the amount of carbon as the average forest.

The ocean's ability to store carbon long-term is being hindered by marine heatwaves

More than 4,000 robotic floats with biogeochemical data sensors, including oxygen, pH, nitrate, suspended particles, chlorophyll, temperature, and conductivity, have been deployed as part of the Global Ocean Biogeochemical Array. They have identified changes to ecosystem structure affecting the ocean's ability to transport carbon from surface waters into the deep.

Algae can capture carbon dioxide at rates up to 50 times faster than land-based plants and can be grown in tanks that use one-tenth the land footprint of terrestrial plants.

As of 2026, the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt is the world's largest macroalgal bloom, with seaweed stretching from the Caribbean to West Africa.

Over 1 million fish, marine mammals, and invertebrate species depend on coral reefs for habitats, camouflage, and food.

The first coral reefs formed hundreds of millions of years ago from the carbonate skeletons deposited by hard corals.

Understanding the role of photosynthesis as a sink within the carbon cycle

Photosynthetic organisms are net carbon absorbers, pulling carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in organic compounds and within soil. Approximately one-third of humanity's carbon emissions are stored by these organisms.

The world's largest species of marine algae is giant kelp, which can grow as much as two feet per day from depths of about 100 feet up to the ocean surface.

Some invasive species' populations have been controlled by turning them into cash crops that can be harvested and sold to produce useful materials.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

Climate resilience strategies, which help communities mitigate the effects of climate change, include painting roofs white, building clam gardens, harvesting fog, and feeding cows seaweed.

While invasive species typically harm ecosystems by outcompeting native organisms for resources, some provide unexpected benefits, including new shelters, nesting habitats, and reduced environmental heat stress.

Arctic permafrost may store twice as much carbon as the entire atmosphere

Rising greenhouse gas concentrations are expected to continue to increase average global temperatures and threaten to thaw ground that has been frozen for thousands of years. The release of greenhouse gases from remnant organic matter would exacerbate the greenhouse effect, creating a positive feedback loop.

Keystone species with average lifespans exceeding a century, oak trees support more organisms than any other North American tree genus by providing ecosystems with pollen, shelter, and nutrient-rich acorns.

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that US commercial and recreational fisheries valued at $200M depend on coral reefs, which provide up to $1.8B in flood protection by absorbing 97% of wave energy.

By targeting a diverse range of sick and injured marine life, sharks—a type of predatory keystone species—help keep ocean gene pools healthy and promote biodiversity by keeping prey species in check.

About 76% of global coral species are found in the Coral Triangle—a region spanning the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste.

Brief article explaining why the Amazon rainforest might now produce more carbon dioxide than it absorbs

Climate change and deforestation may have transformed the Amazon rainforest into a net source of planet-warming gases instead of a carbon sink, according to Smithsonian magazine.

Finance sector has power to help the Amazon rainforest

Read this article to uncover the potential role of the financial industry in addressing deforestation, climate change, and biodiversity loss in the Amazon rainforest. The finance sector can significantly contribute to conservation efforts by...

By absorbing 90% of the thermal energy trapped by greenhouse gases, oceans are providing increasingly more energy to power the rapid strengthening of hurricanes.

Scientists explore innovative solutions to protect coral reefs

As coral reefs are under increasing stress due to climate change, pollution, and other factors, scientists are employing creative solutions to save these crucial marine ecosystems. This National Geographic article explores the various scientific...

Artificial coral reefs have been 3D printed from nontoxic, biodegradable terracotta clay, which coral polyps have used as a foundation for rebuilding marine ecosystems.

As part of the up to 15 pounds of seafood they consume daily, sea otters eat urchins that feed on kelp forests—sources of shelter and food to over 800 species—thereby making the marine mammal a keystone species.

The Amazon rainforest is considered the 'lungs of the Earth,' but it contributes less than a quarter of the oxygen of phytoplankton—microscopic plants, algae, and bacteria capable of photosynthesis.

Nonprofits strive to replant the Amazon and slow global warming

This article explores the efforts of nonprofit organizations like Rioterra in reforesting the Brazilian Amazon to mitigate climate change. Their goal is enormous: reforest an area twice the size of Germany, costing over 20 billion dollars. In order...

A visualization of mycoremediation, where fungi extract toxic and radioactive pollutants from soil

As organisms such as mushrooms grow, they develop large networks of root-like structures called mycelium that spread underground and release enzymes that break down contaminants. By absorbing these chemicals, fungi limit the damage caused by these toxins and localize them within the organism for easier collection and disposal.

Decommissioned oil rigs have been repurposed into artificial reefs that serve as nursery habitats for fish, corals, sponges, and other invertebrates in the decades since their installation.

See examples of hyperaccumulators, the plants that can harvest heavy metals

These ideal species for phytoremediation possess biochemistry that allows them to absorb and store these elements without being poisoned by their accumulation. Pycnandra acuminata, one such plant, has blue-green sap due to an abundance of nickel, which it captures from the nickel-rich soil in which it grows.

Lightning may kill as many as 320 million trees each year

Ignoring the effects of tree loss resulting from lightning-induced wildfires, researchers at the Technical University of Munich developed a quantitative model to estimate the loss of these organisms due to cloud-to-ground strikes, based on global lightning data and forest structure. They expect the estimate to rise due to increased strikes resulting from climate change.

Stony corals form a type of calcium carbonate called aragonite from ions brought to the ocean by rivers that have broken down terrestrial rocks.

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

Despite being multicellular and photosynthetic, organisms such as kelp and sea moss are macroalgae, not plants, because they lack specialized roots and stems to pump water.

Watch students comically portray how plants can detoxify the environment

Through a series of processes that collectively make up phytoremediation, plants can take up pollutants from soil and water through their roots, then break them down, release them as less harmful gases, or store them within their cells. Any plants that sequester heavy metals or other toxins must be removed and managed after the environment is decontaminated.