Wetlands: A Powerful Carbon Sink

Grade Level: Grade 7 and up 

Wetlands: A Powerful Carbon Sink is a short animated video that explains how wetlands absorb and store carbon.

Wetland plants absorb carbon dioxide as they grow, and when they die, that carbon doesn’t get released back into the atmosphere. Instead, the plant sinks to the bottom of the wetland where it can’t fully decompose. Over time, carbon accumulates in partially decomposed plant matter at the bottom of wetlands, and this carbon is stored for hundreds or even thousands of years.