Consequences of Declining, Thawing, and Acidifying Carbon Sinks
Though the Amazon, the world's largest tropical forest, remains a net carbon sink, it verges on becoming a net source, with forests in regions outside indigenous lands between 2001 and 2021 emitting 1.3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year and removing one billion tonnes per year, making them a net source of about 300 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the yearly fossil fuel emissions from France.
Though the Arctic Tundra, a cold vast wilderness served as a carbon sink for a long time, it teeters on becoming a net carbon dioxide source, with about 2.5 grams of carbon per square meter now entering the atmosphere as carbon and methane in the Kuparuk watershed, an 8,100-square kilometer enclave, meaning this trickle of greenhouse gases may represent signs of warming up.
Though the mangrove forest, another source of carbon sink, still retains its reputation, but it verges on becoming a net source, because in the last 20 years the global mangrove carbon stock declined by 158.4 million tonnes, releasing the same level of carbon emissions as flying the entire US population from New York to London.
From the above instances, carbon sinks, which are natural and artificial systems that absorb carbon dioxide, now emit the gas, leading to a situation whereby last year the world's forests, plants, and soil may not have absorbed carbon, with many of the carbon sinks collapsing.
Over the past 40-50 years, around 17 percent of the Amazon forest disappeared, about four-fifth of it turned to pastures, with the forest losing over 54.2 million hectares, or almost nine percent of its forests between 2001 and 2020, an area the same as France, through wildfires, degradation, and other human activities.
Over the past few years, the Arctic tundra suffered from global warming, having experienced average global surface-air temperatures rise by approximately 1.09 degrees Celsius from 1850-1900 and 2011-2020, forcing surface-air temperature in the Arctic to have risen by 3.5 degrees Celsius over the same period.
Over the past 20 years, the world lost about 284,000 hectares of mangrove forests, with Asia showing a 54 percent decrease in net loss within the period, the same trend of loss happening in South America and Oceania.
From the above, events such as deforestation, global warming, and thawing affect carbon sinks, causing them to lose their forests or having to drastically increase their carbon emissions, a situation that made the world's plants, soil, and forests not to absorb carbon last year.
Scientists warn that if deforestation affects 20 percent of the Amazon, the resulting situation could trigger the release of more than 90 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, a figure around 2.5 times greater than global fossil fuel emissions.
Researchers warn that the Arctic tundra warms four times faster than the rest of the planet, and the resultant thawing could wake up an entire ecosystem of small shrubs, grasses, and lichens in the cold soil, leading to the release of a lot of the 1,700 billion metric tonnes of carbon stored in this part of the planet
Experts warn that wetlands, including mangrove forests, store an estimate of over a third of the world's terrestrial carbon, but with the present rate of deforestation, a wetland like mangrove forests could bring 2391 Tg CO2 by the end of the century, or 3392 Tg CO2 when considering foregone soil carbon sequestration.
From the above, an accelerated climate change from rising carbon emissions could result in carbon sinks such as the Amazon, mangrove forests, the Arctic tundra, and others becoming sources of carbon emissions in fullest dimensions.
Indigenous forests need to be secured to save the Amazon rainforest's last carbon sinks, while a reduction in the dependence on fossil fuel could lead to the preservation of the Arctic tundra, with nations having to identify and protect areas where coastal habitats like mangrove forests can survive through such occurrences like deforestation and the rise in sea levels.
What to Eat
Vegan food from Chile, Credit, Maninio.com