Carbon capture storms

Scientists find that hurricanes can reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

Hurricanes, typhoons and other tropical storms can act as a natural form of carbon capture, helping to trap carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere deep into the ocean.

The scientists also found that the more CO2 released into the atmosphere, the greater the strength of such storms.

This international study by scientists from Britain, Japan and Taiwan could lead to more accurate forecasts of these devastating storms, due to the better understanding of the link between the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and how the Earth reacts to it.

Named in the study as Tropical Cyclones, these storms can carry vast amounts of carbon trapped in the soil, rocks and vegetation and transport it into the rivers when they hit. Then, the carbon contained in the mounds of dirt and rocks is often dragged to the ocean.

The team studied deposits in Taiwan's LiWu River and estimate that between 80 to 90 per cent of recent carbon deposits were carried there by floodwater.

Study leader, Robert Hilton, from Cambridge University, told the Telegraph.co.uk: "However, the rate at which this happens is around 100 to 1,000 times slower than the amount of carbon dioxide that is being pumped into the atmosphere by man's activity.

"Although we found that these tropical cyclones act as nature's way of trying to re-balance the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, they can only do so much."

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