Carbon Sequestration

Carbon sequestration refers to the capture and long-term storage of carbon in forests and soils or in the oceans, so that the build-up of carbon dioxide (one of the principal greenhouse gases) in the atmosphere will reduce or slow. Managing land and vegetation to increase carbon storage can buy valuable time to address the ultimate challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
There are three main types of carbon sequestration:
-Carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems - Increasing the amount of carbon stored in vegetation and soils;
-Carbon Sequestration in the Oceans - Enhancing the net uptake of carbon from the atmosphere by the oceans, through fertilisation of phytoplankton with nutrients and injecting carbon dioxide to ocean depths great than 1000 meters; and
-The subsurface sequestration of carbon dioxide in underground geological repositories.
All of these options are commonly known as carbon "sinks". The first, increasing carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems, is currently the focus and is the easiest and most immediate option at the present time. The other options may become more important in the future, as the science and legal systems develop.