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Would it not be buried? Plant matter dies and goes into the soil. Otherwise they would not be Carbon sinks at all. There is a more subtle link too. The fact th
by graemep 2y ago
Would it not be buried? Plant matter dies and goes into the soil. Otherwise they would not be Carbon sinks at all.
There is a more subtle link too. The fact that you can blame fires on climate change, means that people can evade accountability for poor management of forests (and other risky land) which means they can skimp on spending on reducing risk - e.g. through controlled fires.
- mech987876 2y agoPlant matter dies and rots and the carbon escapes to the atmosphere. Ever since microorganisms evolved to eat dead plant matter the conditions to make coal on planet earth (and to create a carbon sink of buried coal) have been gone.
- ashoeafoot 2y agopeat is a preform of coal accidic build up peat is pretty carbon storing. Unless the peat dries out.
- graemep 2y agoSo you are saying forests and otehr natural eco systems are not carbon sinks?
- mech987876 2y agoWhile the trees are alive they sink the amount of carbon present within them.
- graemep 2y agobut a natural forest has trees in all stages: growing, mature, dead and decaying. What you are saying implies this is not a sink.
- mech987876 2y agoI'm not particularly strict on the terminology of whether a carbon sink is permanent or not (in my usage above it is not permanent). But yeah we are on the same page regarding the life cycle of a tree now so it is clear.