BBC: Earth's climate defences failing-2

OK, let's have our next headline. This one is from Down to Earth, which is an online magazine. Carbon sink broken? Last year, trees and land barely absorbed any CO2.

That headline again, from Down to Earth, an online magazine. Carbon sink broken? Lst year, trees and land barely absorbed any CO2.

So this new study is causing scientists to ask if the carbon sink is broken. We're interested in this phrase, carbon sink. Carbon sink. Now, Pippa, I know waht a sink is, I have one in my kitchen and bathroom. It's like a bowl where I wash my hands. 

Yes, that's the nown and as a verb it means to move downwards, usually through water. For example, a stone sinks to the bottom of a lake. And I think both of those meanings are useful to understand carbon sink. 

Exactly. So first, imagine CO2 moving downwards from the atmosphere to the trees. Then,

remember our kitchen sink? The sink takes in, or absorbs, the water. Imagine the earth land like a kitchen sink. It drains the CO2 from the atmosphere and stores it in the trees, plants, and soil. 

So nature's carbon sinks are very important, and scientists worry that they are broken or failing. 

We've had carbon sink, something that absorbs carbon from the atmosphere and stores it. 

For example, we have to be careful about damaging carbon sinks like the oceans and forests. 

This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines. Today we're talking about concerns that nature's defence against climate change is failing. 

So, the Earth seems less able to absorb carbon from the atmosphere, but why?

Well, with a rise in extreme weather, the planet is seeing more wildfires and drought. And wildfires in particular mean that instead of forests absorbing CO2, they become producers of it. 

Yes, this is because when trees burn, they release all the carbon they've stored into the atmosphere, and they also won't be around in the future as a carbon sink. 

Droughts are also important because they mean plants are less able to grow, which means they won't absorb as much CO2 as they could. 

Yes. And we ahve a headline about these concerns. Wildfires weaken global carbon sink, putting climate targets at risk. And that's from meteor. 

That headline. Again, from meteor. Wildfires weaken global carbon sink, putting climate targets at risk. 

And this time, we're looking at the verb weaken. Now, we should know what the adjective weak means. It's the opposite of strong. But, Pippa, what about weaken?

Well, weaken means to make something weak. So in the headline, the widlfires are making the carbon sinks weak. Wildfires weaken the global carbon sink. 

So with some adjectives, we can convert them into verbs by adding en. Weak becomes weaken. 

Yes, and this is particularly true of adjectives which are about the condition of something. Loose becomes loosen, tight becomes tighten. I could tighten the lid on the jat or loosen it. 

Yes, exactly. But there are some strange ones. So strong becomes strengthen, long becomes lengthen. So here the first vowel also changes from o to e, and we also add the th in there. Strengthen. We've had weaken make somthing weak. 

For example. Over time. Storms weakened the bridge, and now, it's too dangerous to use.