How to Use carbon sink in a Sentence

carbon sink

noun
Definition of carbon sinknext
  • Earth’s oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, providing a valuable carbon sink as humans burn fossil fuels.
    — Alexa Robles-Gil, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Sep. 2024
  • The growth in warehouse development has raised concerns about poor air quality, increased cancer risk and the destruction of green areas that act as natural carbon sinks.
    — Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2024
  • Cutting down half a dozen or so trees would gain as much as 2,000 kWh a year, but come at a financial and climate expense, since trees are carbon sinks.
    — Tik Root, WIRED, 30 Mar. 2024
  • This shift has improved soil health, cut cropland erosion and advanced the ability of soil to act as a crucial carbon sink.
    — Magi Richani, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024
  • So instead of acting like a carbon sink, weathering rocks could be a source of carbon dioxide.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 5 Oct. 2023
  • In 2012, a U.N. study found that mangrove forests — a major carbon sink — have suffered greatly due to the development of shrimp and fish farming.
    — Frida Garza / Grist, Quartz, 17 June 2024
  • Venus is the closest exoplanet Studying Venus could give scientists insights of what a world looks like when there are no carbon sinks left.
    — Regina G. Barber, NPR, 8 May 2024
  • This could mean the large-scale collapse of a biome that has for 65 million years has served as the Earth’s carbon sink, absorbing billions of tons of carbon while largely weathering changes in climate.
    — Andrew Jeong, Washington Post, 16 Feb. 2024
  • Losing a large portion of the Amazon could turn a key carbon sink into a source of emissions, as wildfires burn and plants and animals decompose, no longer able to survive.
    — Evan Bush, NBC News, 14 Feb. 2024
  • Approximately 4 billion hectares of forest around the world act as a carbon sink which, over the past two decades, has annually absorbed a net 7.6 billion metric tons of CO2.
    — Alloysius Attah, WIRED, 8 Jan. 2024
  • By contrast, bottom trawling endangers not just the future of local fish stocks, but the existence of one of Europe’s most important carbon sinks.
    — Tristan Kennedy, WIRED, 19 Mar. 2024
  • Those species produce climate-warming methane and also require a huge amount of land to graze on, spurring further deforestation in crucial carbon sinks such as the Amazon.
    — Eve Andrews, The Atlantic, 21 Dec. 2023
  • Experts fear that mining could negatively impact carbon sinks and ocean life, including still-unidentified species near the ocean floor.
    — Naomi Greenberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Dec. 2023
  • Mangroves, comprised of trees that grow in saline water, typically where rivers meet the sea, are biodiversity hotspots and act as huge carbon sinks, helping combat climate change.
    — Kamalpreet Singh, Travel + Leisure, 19 June 2024
  • Notable examples of natural carbon sinks include forests and ecosystems like peatlands.
    — Simi Thambi​, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024
  • Losing such a major carbon sink will have devastating consequences for biodiversity and human well-being in Brazil and far beyond.
    — Matias Spektor, Foreign Affairs, 7 Nov. 2022
  • But unfortunately, humans are headed in the opposite direction: The Amazon is now so degraded due to deforestation, parts of it are switching from being carbon sinks to carbon sources.
    — Matt Simon, WIRED, 14 Dec. 2023
  • Environmentalists say deep-sea mining will disturb the world’s largest natural carbon sink, which absorbs one-third of carbon dioxide generated on land.
    — Lily Kuo, Washington Post, 19 Oct. 2023
  • Researchers believe that such biodiversity could also mean canopy soils are strong carbon sinks, a potentially critical piece missing from carbon budgets.
    — Cameron Pugh, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Sep. 2023
  • Accordingly, parts of the Amazon are transforming from carbon sinks into carbon sources, further exacerbating climate change.
    — Matt Simon, WIRED, 20 Nov. 2023
  • It is expected to be fully operational in a couple of years, fostering reforestation and funding protection of Brazil’s forests and savannas, important carbon sinks, according to scientists.
    — Paulo Trevisani, WSJ, 26 Oct. 2023
  • The elimination of these precious carbon sinks released titanic amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, unleashing an environmental catastrophe.
    — Patricia Cohen Jes Aznar, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2024
  • Additionally, responsible grazing keeps grasslands healthy, increasing biodiversity and providing a natural carbon sink, while reducing the risk of wildfires, Dr. Manzano says.
    — Michael Benanav, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Apr. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'carbon sink.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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