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Scientists are getting a better idea of the amount of carbon that Earth's forests absorb from the atmosphere, acting as "carbon sinks" (Roach 2001). New research in this area will be very important in devising solutions to the global warming problem. Recent studies have found that more diverse plant ecosystems are better able in absorbing carbon dioxide. When old growth forests are clear cut, timber companies often replant the areas with a single tree species, a practice known as "monoculture". This affects the biodiversity.
Crops, soils, and other organic matter absorb carbon, slowing down the rate of global warming (Roach 2001). The results in calculating haw much carbon is absorbed differ from one another.


Different Measuring Techniques

How much carbon is "stored" has been measured in two ways: one atmosphere based, the other land based.

1. Atmosphere based: measures concentrations of CO2 in the air when it is moving from point A to point B.

2. Land base: makes an inventory of all the carbon in a given area.  Then the variation of this amount is recorded.

The results of the atmospheric methods are similar to each other, and they have shown higher levels than the land based method (Roach 2001). This was because in land based methods, only the amount of carbon in tress was taken in account. Now they took in account the carbon absorbed by landfills, soils, houses, etc. These results are now consistent with the atmosphere based method (Roach 2001).