• Earth's natural carbon sinks, like trees and oceans, did not function properly in 2023.
• Climate change mitigation efforts could be severely impacted and currently in limbo.

Earth's natural processes of absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere faced disruption and absorbed almost nothing in 2023, according to a recent study.

Trees absorb CO2, and ocean creatures like zooplankton remove carbon from the surface of the oceans. If these processes are affected, it can impact the regulation of the Earth's temperature.

Trees help cool the planet by acting as carbon sinks. Meanwhile, small creatures like zooplankton consume microscopic algae, removing large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. According to the study, in 2023, trees and land absorbed almost no CO2.

This is very concerning because CO2 levels measured at a Hawaiian observatory were 86% higher than the previous year, marking the highest recorded level since 1958.

Even though the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has not increased much, the alarming reduction in carbon absorption by land and oceans through natural processes is worrying.

Read more: 2023 Sees Record Greenhouse Gas Levels, WMO Reports

Scientists and climate experts are still studying the trend to determine if it will continue to be a regular occurrence. They said massive wildfires in 2023 had impacted the land's ability to absorb carbon.

Johan Rockström and Andrew Watson, two climate experts, said that Earth's capacity to remove and store carbon is dwindling at a faster pace, and this could disrupt climate change mitigation efforts by governments, businesses, and the public at large.

Read more: Relying on Natural Carbon Sinks Won't Cut CO2 Emissions

“We’re seeing cracks in the resilience of the Earth’s systems. We’re seeing massive cracks on land – terrestrial ecosystems are losing their carbon store and carbon uptake capacity, but the oceans are also showing signs of instability,” said Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

“Overall, models agreed that both the land sink and the ocean sink are going to decrease in the future as a result of climate change. But there’s a question of how quickly that will happen. The models tend to show this happening rather slowly over the next 100 years or so,” commented Andrew Watson, head of Exeter University’s marine and atmospheric science group.

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Source: Down To Earth