Plants aren't absorbing carbon anymore

Question

Guardian article excerpt (claim bolded): 

This activity is one of thousands of natural processes that regulate the Earth’s climate. Together, the planet’s oceans, forests, soils and other natural carbon sinks absorb about half of all human emissions.

But as the Earth heats up, scientists are increasingly concerned that those crucial processes are breaking down.

In 2023, the hottest year ever recorded, preliminary findings by an international team of researchers show the amount of carbon absorbed by land has temporarily collapsed. The final result was that forest, plants and soil – as a net category – absorbed almost no carbon.

Answer 1

The Guardian article describes the decline of carbon sinks in the world attributing to more carbon floating around in the atmosphere. According to a study done by Nature.com, “continuing deforestation and further intensification of disturbance regimes” will add to the decrease of carbon sinks.  Plants are still absorbing carbon, but it is being produced at a rate that they cannot keep up with. Both articles also describe that restoration and preservation rules are important to slow the decline, but ultimately, the only way for carbon dioxide levels to go down is for regulation on fossil fuels. Therefore, The Guardian article is telling the truth, but the claim that plants are not absorbing carbon anymore is an exaggeration. 

Answer 2

This claim is misleading and exaggerated, but holds some truth and substance behind the statement. The claim states that the forest, plants and soil, as a net category, absorbed almost no carbon. It is true that due to environmental factors of climate change such as droughts and wildfires, 2023 was a very poor year when it came to extracting carbon emissions through wildlife like the forest and plants. However, it is inaccurate to say that "plants aren't absorbing carbon anymore" because if that were true, humans would not be able to survive with such high carbon footprint. Plants are still absorbing carbon, but at a much lower rate and amount than previous years. 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/14/nature-carbon-sink-collapse-global-heating-models-emissions-targets-evidence-aoe

https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3057/land-ecosystems-are-becoming-less-efficient-at-absorbing-carbon-dioxide/