CO2 Sinks Rainforest

This section allows the user to get a rough idea of how much rainforest is required to absorb a given amount of CO₂ emissions. Because there is considerable uncertainty regarding the CO₂ absorption rate of rainforest, we anticipate including several choices of value in this category. The drill-down sourceName is used in this category to chose which source the user would prefer to use in the calculations. At present the only option for this drill-down is Save the Rainforest.

The user then enters either co2Quantity or rainforestArea as profile item values. If the area of rainforest is entered then Discover returns an amount of CO₂ as usual. This is the amount of CO₂ that would be absorbed by that area of rainforest in one year. When storing calculations via profiles, if the amount of CO₂ is entered then Discover returns the area of rainforest (in km²) that would take one year to absorb that amount of CO₂ in the profile item value rainforestArea.

The value with sourceName=Save the Rainforest is provided by the Princes Rainforest Project and Save the Rainforests. It should be treated as being indicative only as several important assumptions have been made, for example, concerning the latitude and climate of the forest's location, which are significant in determining the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed.