Press briefing 1 May 2008: ponds trap more carbon than the world's oceans

New research by Professor John Downing and colleagues states that ponds across the globe could bury more carbon than all the world’s oceans.

Professor Downing found that constructed ponds and lakes on farmland in the USA bury carbon at a much higher rate than expected; at a rate 20-50 times the rate at which trees trap carbon. Ponds take up carbon at a higher rate than larger lakes.