Carbon sinks absorb more greenhouse gases than they produce

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.

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.

Nearly half the oxygen we breathe comes from photosynthetic plankton, not plants

Although the Amazon Rainforest is considered the "lungs of the Earth," it only produces 20% of the planet's oxygen, while phytoplankton, or microalgae, generate more than twice as much, despite making up less than 1% of the total mass of photosynthetic organisms on the planet. Through photosynthesis, microalgae also absorb up to 40% of global carbon emissions.

Excluding water vapor, greenhouse gases make up less than 1% of Earth's atmosphere

Although carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and most fluorinated gases account for only a minority of the planet's greenhouse effect due to their lower concentrations, they are more effective at trapping thermal radiation. While water vapor condenses within two weeks, other greenhouse gases linger in the atmosphere for years on average.

Carbon dioxide is the most produced greenhouse gas from human activities

In 2022, about 79.7% of US greenhouse gas emissions were carbon dioxide, produced through chemical reactions in processes such as cement production and the burning of fossil fuels, solid waste, trees, and other biological materials. Methane (11.1%), nitrous oxide (6.1%), fluorinated gases (3.1%), and trace amounts of solid and liquid aerosol were also created.

Oceans absorb 90% of warming from greenhouse gases

Oceans are providing increasingly more energy to power hurricane intensity. Current projections show rapid intensification is becoming more common, increasing the likelihood of Category 4 and 5 storms.

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.

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.

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.

Atmospheric greenhouse gases trap thermal energy and make Earth habitable

The moon and Earth are at the same distance from the sun, but the moon experiences large fluctuations in surface temperature because it lacks an atmosphere to insulate it. Gases such as water vapor, ozone, carbon dioxide, and methane can intercept about 90% of the infrared radiation emitted by Earth's surface.

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.

Feeding grazing cattle seaweed cut their methane emissions by almost 40%

The largest share of the 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions from livestock comes from methane released when cows burp. A study found that introducing a seaweed supplement in pellet form significantly reduced these emissions without affecting cattle's health or weight.

The cycling of carbon via tectonic activity may have facilitated life on Earth

Plates sinking into Earth’s mantle pull carbon from the surface, helping stabilize the atmosphere and climate by removing greenhouse gases from volcanic eruptions. At the same time, magma is a significant contributor of heavy metals and other crucial minerals for life to the surface.

What’s the best way to reduce climate impact of food?

Food is a big part of everyone’s carbon footprint, and it’s important to understand the impact of our personal food consumption. Individual food choices can emit as many greenhouse gases as personal electricity use. Plant-based diets generally...

Carbon markets incentivize companies to cut emissions but require high carbon prices

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a cap-and-trade system issues a limited number of emissions permits—carbon credits—that decrease each year, cutting into a company's profits if it does not reduce emissions and must buy permits from others. However, cheap permits and minimal fines for lacking permits have reduced the system's effectiveness.

Global climate models simulate Earth system interactions and how human activity impacts climate

By splitting the planet into tiny 3D grid cells, supercomputers can run thousands of equations for each cell to determine the movement of energy, moisture, and other elements across Earth. The equations can also incorporate greenhouse gases to determine how humans affect the climate.

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.

Invasive species are the third biggest threat to Earth's biodiversity

According to the World Wildlife Fund's Living Planet Report 2020, changes in land and sea use account for about half of all recorded threats to the diversity of the planet's species. Species overexploitation is the second-largest proportional threat at 24%, while invasive species make up 13%.

As of 2022, just 0.5% of installed renewable energy capacity worldwide is geothermal

Despite being able to generate electricity regardless of the weather, solar (28%) and wind (27%) are far more prevalent, primarily because of their lower upfront costs. Geothermal plants use 88% less space than solar farms to produce the same energy, but have been restricted to geologically active regions.

How flooding the Dead Sea could help the climate

There are many dead zones in the world with low elevation and very little rainfall that provide little to no benefits to the ecosystem or climate. This digestible, thorough article explains how piping in nearby water to flood these areas could...

Atmospheric rivers are the largest freshwater transport mechanism on Earth

Serving as highways that carry the water vapor equivalent of up to 15 times the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River, atmospheric rivers are approximately 400 to 600 kilometers (250 to 375 miles) wide and provide 30-50% of the annual precipitation of the US West Coast.

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.

Scientists testing how climate change affects plants found, in a years-long simulation study, that poison ivy grew 70% faster with the resulting extra carbon dioxide.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Odor blockers use nonpolar oils to trap smelly polar molecules

In the case of feces, gut bacteria produce compounds such as skatole and hydrogen sulfide, which the brain registers as unpleasant. Because oils do not dissolve in water, they can be used to create a layer on the surface that prevents smelly compounds underwater from escaping into the air.

The world's largest waterfall is in the ocean

In the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland, a series of cataracts descend from 2,000 to 10,000 feet beneath the surface. The underwater waterfall is possible because cold water is denser than warm water and quickly sinks in the region.

The surprising world of coal seam fires

Hundreds of coal seam fires are actively smoldering around the world at any given time, including some that have stayed lit for centuries. These fires have occurred naturally for millions of years, lit atop deposits of coal in the earth. Dive into...

Sinkholes form when underground cavities cause the surface above to collapse

These openings are typically carved by acidic water, which often forms in limestone-rich areas. However, leaking pipes, groundwater removal and extreme weather or geological activity increases the frequency of sinkhole appearances.

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.

Some renewable energy sources may weaken the resiliency of electric grids by removing outage buffers provided by coal- and natural gas-fired plants, which provide the system with more time to find a new power source if a plant goes down.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

All rainbows are 'raincircles' caused by water droplets separating white sunlight into a spectrum of colors, but Earth's surface blocks the bottom half of the circle from our line of sight.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

Volcanoes 'die' when their supply of magma runs out, if they are shifted away from their underlying magma reservoir, or if they get clogged by collapsing or their magma cooling back into rock.

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

Scientists have struggled to pin down Ebola's natural reservoir species for decades, but the available evidence suggests that it's very likely fruit and insect-eating bats found in Africa.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

Shooting stars, or meteors, are fragments of asteroids and comets that burn up as they enter Earth's atmosphere, creating streaks in the sky called meteor showers.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.