carbon sink

British

noun

areas of vegetation, especially forests, and the phytoplankton-rich seas that absorb the carbon dioxide produced by the burning of fossil fuels

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Not only does it provide a unique home for wildlife but coastal fringes act as both a natural flood defence and a carbon sink.

From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026

Preserving forest cover is essential to fighting climate warming as trees act as a natural carbon sink.

From Barron's • May 27, 2026

This immense carbon sink functions through a complex circulation system: deep water rises to the surface, exchanges gases with the atmosphere, and then sinks again, carrying absorbed CO2 back into the depths.

From Science Daily • Oct. 27, 2025

The ocean also produces half of the oxygen we breathe on land and is the largest carbon sink on Earth, absorbing about 30% of all carbon dioxide emissions from humans.

From Salon • May 21, 2025

Data indicates that the southeastern Amazon has now turned from a carbon sink to a source.

From BBC • Oct. 28, 2024

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023