Oil, gas, and water separation vessels at a carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery operation, Horseshoe Atoll, Upper Pennsylvanian Wolfcampian play in the Permian Basin Province in Texas.
Greenhouse Gases and Carbon Storage
Nature-Based Solutions
The USGS is partnering with NASA to measure coastal wetlands' ability to combat climate change through carbon sequestration.
Where are USGS Greenhouse Gas Emissions Coming From?
A USGS report found that 1/4 of the United States’ emissions come from coal, oil, and gas extracted from public lands. Learn more in this interactive map!
Leader in Geologic Carbon Sequestration Research
The Department of the Interior recognizes cutting-edge research from the USGS on geologic carbon storage.
Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere retain heat from the Sun, allowing plants and animals to flourish. As the amount of these gases change, so does the atmosphere’s effectiveness at trapping heat. The USGS tracks greenhouse gas emissions and uptake across the nation and explores mechanisms for storing carbon and reducing emissions to help lessen the effects of climate change.
What are greenhouse gases?
“Greenhouse” gases occur naturally in the Earth’s atmosphere. They help regulate the planet’s temperature, like how the glass in a greenhouse retains heat or a blanket reflects your body heat to keep you warm. Adding more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, like we do when burning fossil fuels, acts like putting a thicker blanket on the planet. The thicker the blanket of greenhouse gases, the less heat escapes into space. This causes the planet to get warmer. Common greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), fluorinated gases such as hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and nitrogen trifluoride, and water vapor (H2O).
What is causing increased greenhouse gas concentrations?
Most greenhouse gases released in the United States contain carbon. Carbon naturally cycles throughout the planet and the air. There is carbon moving around “in circulation,” such as the CO2 we breath and carbon contained in plant and animal tissue. And there is carbon locked in “long-term storage”, called carbon sinks. Carbon in underground oil reserves or in trees that live hundreds of years are examples are carbon sinks. Many human activities take carbon out of carbon sinks and put it back into the atmosphere. Oil reserves that took millions of years to form are used up in decades. Forests that have stood for centuries are harvested or burned in a matter of weeks. Through these activities, we add more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than can naturally be reabsorbed.
Efforts to slow or stop climate change revolve around righting the carbon imbalance in the atmosphere. This can be done by decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, for example by reducing fossil fuel use. Or it can involve increasing the amount of carbon being captured and stored in carbon sinks, a process called carbon sequestration.
Important sources of greenhouse gas emissions include:
- Burning fossil fuels, including oil, coal, and natural gas
- Producing and using industrial products
- Agriculture, including cows and some crops
- Destroying or disrupting ecosystems that act as carbon sinks
There are also natural sources of greenhouse gases, including volcanic eruptions, geologic seeps (such as hot springs and geothermal vents), thawing permafrost, and forest fires. Climate change and human activities can accelerate natural emissions. Warmer temperatures defrost permafrost and heat up oceans, releasing the carbon long stored in these systems. Wetlands drained for agriculture can rapidly switch from being carbon sinks to being carbon sources. And human ignitions and climate-driven dryness mean long, intense fire seasons, releasing billions of metric tons of carbon dioxide around the world each year.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions on Public Lands
The USGS conducts research on greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration in public lands. Public lands maintained by the U.S. Department of the Interior make up about one-fifth of the Nation’s land area. They include national parks, seashores, and monuments managed by the National Park Service; national wildlife refuges managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and working lands and offshore mineral rights managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
In 2018, the USGS estimated the amount of carbon released by and sequestered in U.S. federal lands. (USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5131). We found that about one-quarter of the United States’ emissions come from combustion of coal, oil, and gas extracted from public lands.
The USGS also investigates methods of land management aimed at decreasing emissions from federal lands. We provide decision-makers, local communities, and land managers with tools to analyze tradeoffs associated with changing energy practices. We also develop natural carbon dioxide removal technologies to remove carbon from the atmosphere through carbon sequestration and to decrease natural methane emissions.
Carbon Sequestration as a Potential Climate Solution
Carbon sequestration helps slow or possibly reverse the effects of climate change. The USGS is exploring two major approaches to carbon dioxide removal and storage.
Geologic Carbon Sequestration. Geologic carbon sequestration involves storing carbon dioxide in stable rock formations. Technology captures carbon dioxide from industrial processes, like factories and power plants, and compresses the gas into a liquid. This liquid is then injected deep underground. Another technology is called carbon mineralization, which is the process by which carbon dioxide becomes a solid mineral, such as a carbonate. It is a chemical reaction that happens when certain rocks are exposed to carbon dioxide. The USGS is an international leader in identifying rock formations with high potential for carbon storage and is exploring the mechanisms and potential consequences of this process.
Biologic Carbon Sequestration. Biologic carbon sequestration takes advantage of nature's ability to store carbon. Through photosynthesis, plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it as a building block to create new tissue. Some of the carbon remains preserved in soil, sediments, and wood. Ecosystems like forests and wetlands can absorb huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it for long time periods, from decades to thousands of years. The USGS helps managers and conservation agencies identify ecosystems that are particularly good at storing carbon and supports restoration and conservation of these areas. Much of this work currently focuses on carbon stored in coastal regions, known as “blue carbon.”
Publications
Can coastal habitats rise to the challenge? Resilience of estuarine habitats, carbon accumulation, and economic value to sea-level rise in a Puget Sound estuary
N and P constrain C in ecosystems under climate change: Role of nutrient redistribution, accumulation, and stoichiometry
Changes in organic carbon source and storage with sea level rise-induced transgression in a Chesapeake Bay marsh
Recent carbon storage and burial exceed historic rates in the San Juan Bay estuary peri-urban mangrove forests (Puerto Rico, United States)
Half of global methane emissions come from highly variable aquatic ecosystem sources
Science
Volcanoes Can Affect Climate
Wetland Methane Emissions: Functional-type Modeling and Data-driven Parameterization
Wetland Carbon Working Group: Improving Methodologies and Estimates of Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Flux in Wetlands
Carbon and Energy Storage, Emissions and Economics (CESEE)
Economics of Energy Transitions
Multimedia
Oil, gas, and water separation vessels at a carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery operation, Horseshoe Atoll, Upper Pennsylvanian Wolfcampian play in the Permian Basin Province in Texas.
A short video on how carbon can get into the atmosphere.
A short video on how carbon can get into the atmosphere.
Photograph of a carbon dioxide injection well operated by CO2CRC, at the Otway National Research Facility in the state of Victoria, Australia
Photograph of a carbon dioxide injection well operated by CO2CRC, at the Otway National Research Facility in the state of Victoria, Australia
Technicians measuring greenhouse gas flux from floating chambers and water chemistry in a prairie pothole wetland at Cottonwood Lake Study Area, North Dakota.
Technicians measuring greenhouse gas flux from floating chambers and water chemistry in a prairie pothole wetland at Cottonwood Lake Study Area, North Dakota.
USGS collaborators from Marine Biological Laboratory preparing to measure greenhouse gas flux from a salt marsh study site (Cape Cod, MA).
USGS collaborators from Marine Biological Laboratory preparing to measure greenhouse gas flux from a salt marsh study site (Cape Cod, MA).
The use of carbon dioxide (CO2) injection for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) can prolong the productivity of many oil reservoirs and increase the U.S. hydrocarbon recoverable resource volume.
The use of carbon dioxide (CO2) injection for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) can prolong the productivity of many oil reservoirs and increase the U.S. hydrocarbon recoverable resource volume.
Sulfur dioxide gas emissions from the crater of Pu‘u ‘Ō ‘ō on Kīlauea’s east rift zone and the vent within Halema‘uma‘u Crater at Kīlauea’s summit create volcanic pollution that affects the air quality of downwind communities. Here, a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory gas geochemist measures Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō gas emissions using an instrument that detects ga
Sulfur dioxide gas emissions from the crater of Pu‘u ‘Ō ‘ō on Kīlauea’s east rift zone and the vent within Halema‘uma‘u Crater at Kīlauea’s summit create volcanic pollution that affects the air quality of downwind communities. Here, a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory gas geochemist measures Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō gas emissions using an instrument that detects ga
A map of the regions in the United States evaluated for surface and underground carbon mineralization.
A map of the regions in the United States evaluated for surface and underground carbon mineralization.
A section of the Upper Green River Valley in western Wyoming, just south of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, showing different ecosystems (such as forests, wetlands, and aquatic habitats) whose capacities for carbon storage and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions will be assessed by the USGS.
A section of the Upper Green River Valley in western Wyoming, just south of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, showing different ecosystems (such as forests, wetlands, and aquatic habitats) whose capacities for carbon storage and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions will be assessed by the USGS.
News
U.S. Departments of Energy and Interior Partner to Explore Potential for Geologic Carbon Storage
Carbon storage in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem under future warming scenarios
Wetland Word: Blue Carbon
The USGS has hundreds of publications on greenhouse gases and carbon sequestration. Here are some of our favorites.
Federal lands greenhouse emissions and sequestration in the United States—Estimates for 2005–14
In January 2016, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior tasked the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) with producing a publicly available and annually updated database of estimated greenhouse gas emissions associated with the extraction and use (predominantly some form of combustion) of fossil fuels from Federal lands. In response, the USGS has produced estimates of the greenhouse gas emi
Restoring tides to reduce methane emissions in impounded wetlands: A new and potent Blue Carbon climate change intervention
Baseline and projected future carbon storage and carbon fluxes in ecosystems of Hawai‘i
Risk, liability, and economic issues with long-term CO2 storage—A review
Methane emissions from oceans, coasts, and freshwater habitats: New perspectives and feedbacks on climate
Interactions among vegetation, climate, and herbivory control greenhouse gas fluxes in a subarctic coastal wetland
Temperature response of soil respiration largely unaltered with experimental warming
Consequences of changes in vegetation and snow cover for climate feedbacks in Alaska and northwest Canada
Baseline and projected future carbon storage and greenhouse-gas fluxes in ecosystems of Alaska
Carbon dioxide storage in unconventional reservoirs workshop: summary of recommendations
Quantifying climate change mitigation potential in Great Plains wetlands for three greenhouse gas emission scenarios
Baseline and projected future carbon storage and greenhouse-gas fluxes in ecosystems of the eastern United States
National assessment of geologic carbon dioxide storage resources: data
Explore USGS some of the many research projects on greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration.
Methodology Development and Assessment of National Carbon Dioxide Enhanced Oil Recovery and Associated Carbon Dioxide Storage Potential
Environmental Geochemistry
Coastal Wetland Blue Carbon
Gas Hydrates- Climate and Hydrate Interactions
Hawai‘i Carbon Storage and Greenhouse Gas Flux Assessment
Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE)
Uncovering the Ecosystem Service Value of Carbon Sequestration in National Parks
Ecology of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Coastal Wetlands
Check out some of the amazing USGS photos, infographics, and videos on greenhouse gases and carbon sequestration.
Find the answers to frequently asked questions about greenhouse gases and carbon sequestration.
Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere retain heat from the Sun, allowing plants and animals to flourish. As the amount of these gases change, so does the atmosphere’s effectiveness at trapping heat. The USGS tracks greenhouse gas emissions and uptake across the nation and explores mechanisms for storing carbon and reducing emissions to help lessen the effects of climate change.
What are greenhouse gases?
“Greenhouse” gases occur naturally in the Earth’s atmosphere. They help regulate the planet’s temperature, like how the glass in a greenhouse retains heat or a blanket reflects your body heat to keep you warm. Adding more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, like we do when burning fossil fuels, acts like putting a thicker blanket on the planet. The thicker the blanket of greenhouse gases, the less heat escapes into space. This causes the planet to get warmer. Common greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), fluorinated gases such as hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and nitrogen trifluoride, and water vapor (H2O).
What is causing increased greenhouse gas concentrations?
Most greenhouse gases released in the United States contain carbon. Carbon naturally cycles throughout the planet and the air. There is carbon moving around “in circulation,” such as the CO2 we breath and carbon contained in plant and animal tissue. And there is carbon locked in “long-term storage”, called carbon sinks. Carbon in underground oil reserves or in trees that live hundreds of years are examples are carbon sinks. Many human activities take carbon out of carbon sinks and put it back into the atmosphere. Oil reserves that took millions of years to form are used up in decades. Forests that have stood for centuries are harvested or burned in a matter of weeks. Through these activities, we add more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than can naturally be reabsorbed.
Efforts to slow or stop climate change revolve around righting the carbon imbalance in the atmosphere. This can be done by decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, for example by reducing fossil fuel use. Or it can involve increasing the amount of carbon being captured and stored in carbon sinks, a process called carbon sequestration.
Important sources of greenhouse gas emissions include:
- Burning fossil fuels, including oil, coal, and natural gas
- Producing and using industrial products
- Agriculture, including cows and some crops
- Destroying or disrupting ecosystems that act as carbon sinks
There are also natural sources of greenhouse gases, including volcanic eruptions, geologic seeps (such as hot springs and geothermal vents), thawing permafrost, and forest fires. Climate change and human activities can accelerate natural emissions. Warmer temperatures defrost permafrost and heat up oceans, releasing the carbon long stored in these systems. Wetlands drained for agriculture can rapidly switch from being carbon sinks to being carbon sources. And human ignitions and climate-driven dryness mean long, intense fire seasons, releasing billions of metric tons of carbon dioxide around the world each year.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions on Public Lands
The USGS conducts research on greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration in public lands. Public lands maintained by the U.S. Department of the Interior make up about one-fifth of the Nation’s land area. They include national parks, seashores, and monuments managed by the National Park Service; national wildlife refuges managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and working lands and offshore mineral rights managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
In 2018, the USGS estimated the amount of carbon released by and sequestered in U.S. federal lands. (USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5131). We found that about one-quarter of the United States’ emissions come from combustion of coal, oil, and gas extracted from public lands.
The USGS also investigates methods of land management aimed at decreasing emissions from federal lands. We provide decision-makers, local communities, and land managers with tools to analyze tradeoffs associated with changing energy practices. We also develop natural carbon dioxide removal technologies to remove carbon from the atmosphere through carbon sequestration and to decrease natural methane emissions.
Carbon Sequestration as a Potential Climate Solution
Carbon sequestration helps slow or possibly reverse the effects of climate change. The USGS is exploring two major approaches to carbon dioxide removal and storage.
Geologic Carbon Sequestration. Geologic carbon sequestration involves storing carbon dioxide in stable rock formations. Technology captures carbon dioxide from industrial processes, like factories and power plants, and compresses the gas into a liquid. This liquid is then injected deep underground. Another technology is called carbon mineralization, which is the process by which carbon dioxide becomes a solid mineral, such as a carbonate. It is a chemical reaction that happens when certain rocks are exposed to carbon dioxide. The USGS is an international leader in identifying rock formations with high potential for carbon storage and is exploring the mechanisms and potential consequences of this process.
Biologic Carbon Sequestration. Biologic carbon sequestration takes advantage of nature's ability to store carbon. Through photosynthesis, plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it as a building block to create new tissue. Some of the carbon remains preserved in soil, sediments, and wood. Ecosystems like forests and wetlands can absorb huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it for long time periods, from decades to thousands of years. The USGS helps managers and conservation agencies identify ecosystems that are particularly good at storing carbon and supports restoration and conservation of these areas. Much of this work currently focuses on carbon stored in coastal regions, known as “blue carbon.”
Publications
Can coastal habitats rise to the challenge? Resilience of estuarine habitats, carbon accumulation, and economic value to sea-level rise in a Puget Sound estuary
N and P constrain C in ecosystems under climate change: Role of nutrient redistribution, accumulation, and stoichiometry
Changes in organic carbon source and storage with sea level rise-induced transgression in a Chesapeake Bay marsh
Recent carbon storage and burial exceed historic rates in the San Juan Bay estuary peri-urban mangrove forests (Puerto Rico, United States)
Half of global methane emissions come from highly variable aquatic ecosystem sources
Science
Volcanoes Can Affect Climate
Wetland Methane Emissions: Functional-type Modeling and Data-driven Parameterization
Wetland Carbon Working Group: Improving Methodologies and Estimates of Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Flux in Wetlands
Carbon and Energy Storage, Emissions and Economics (CESEE)
Economics of Energy Transitions
Multimedia
Oil, gas, and water separation vessels at a carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery operation, Horseshoe Atoll, Upper Pennsylvanian Wolfcampian play in the Permian Basin Province in Texas.
Oil, gas, and water separation vessels at a carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery operation, Horseshoe Atoll, Upper Pennsylvanian Wolfcampian play in the Permian Basin Province in Texas.
A short video on how carbon can get into the atmosphere.
A short video on how carbon can get into the atmosphere.
Photograph of a carbon dioxide injection well operated by CO2CRC, at the Otway National Research Facility in the state of Victoria, Australia
Photograph of a carbon dioxide injection well operated by CO2CRC, at the Otway National Research Facility in the state of Victoria, Australia
Technicians measuring greenhouse gas flux from floating chambers and water chemistry in a prairie pothole wetland at Cottonwood Lake Study Area, North Dakota.
Technicians measuring greenhouse gas flux from floating chambers and water chemistry in a prairie pothole wetland at Cottonwood Lake Study Area, North Dakota.
USGS collaborators from Marine Biological Laboratory preparing to measure greenhouse gas flux from a salt marsh study site (Cape Cod, MA).
USGS collaborators from Marine Biological Laboratory preparing to measure greenhouse gas flux from a salt marsh study site (Cape Cod, MA).
The use of carbon dioxide (CO2) injection for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) can prolong the productivity of many oil reservoirs and increase the U.S. hydrocarbon recoverable resource volume.
The use of carbon dioxide (CO2) injection for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) can prolong the productivity of many oil reservoirs and increase the U.S. hydrocarbon recoverable resource volume.
Sulfur dioxide gas emissions from the crater of Pu‘u ‘Ō ‘ō on Kīlauea’s east rift zone and the vent within Halema‘uma‘u Crater at Kīlauea’s summit create volcanic pollution that affects the air quality of downwind communities. Here, a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory gas geochemist measures Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō gas emissions using an instrument that detects ga
Sulfur dioxide gas emissions from the crater of Pu‘u ‘Ō ‘ō on Kīlauea’s east rift zone and the vent within Halema‘uma‘u Crater at Kīlauea’s summit create volcanic pollution that affects the air quality of downwind communities. Here, a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory gas geochemist measures Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō gas emissions using an instrument that detects ga
A map of the regions in the United States evaluated for surface and underground carbon mineralization.
A map of the regions in the United States evaluated for surface and underground carbon mineralization.
A section of the Upper Green River Valley in western Wyoming, just south of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, showing different ecosystems (such as forests, wetlands, and aquatic habitats) whose capacities for carbon storage and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions will be assessed by the USGS.
A section of the Upper Green River Valley in western Wyoming, just south of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, showing different ecosystems (such as forests, wetlands, and aquatic habitats) whose capacities for carbon storage and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions will be assessed by the USGS.
News
U.S. Departments of Energy and Interior Partner to Explore Potential for Geologic Carbon Storage
Carbon storage in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem under future warming scenarios
Wetland Word: Blue Carbon
The USGS has hundreds of publications on greenhouse gases and carbon sequestration. Here are some of our favorites.
Federal lands greenhouse emissions and sequestration in the United States—Estimates for 2005–14
In January 2016, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior tasked the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) with producing a publicly available and annually updated database of estimated greenhouse gas emissions associated with the extraction and use (predominantly some form of combustion) of fossil fuels from Federal lands. In response, the USGS has produced estimates of the greenhouse gas emi
Restoring tides to reduce methane emissions in impounded wetlands: A new and potent Blue Carbon climate change intervention
Baseline and projected future carbon storage and carbon fluxes in ecosystems of Hawai‘i
Risk, liability, and economic issues with long-term CO2 storage—A review
Methane emissions from oceans, coasts, and freshwater habitats: New perspectives and feedbacks on climate
Interactions among vegetation, climate, and herbivory control greenhouse gas fluxes in a subarctic coastal wetland
Temperature response of soil respiration largely unaltered with experimental warming
Consequences of changes in vegetation and snow cover for climate feedbacks in Alaska and northwest Canada
Baseline and projected future carbon storage and greenhouse-gas fluxes in ecosystems of Alaska
Carbon dioxide storage in unconventional reservoirs workshop: summary of recommendations
Quantifying climate change mitigation potential in Great Plains wetlands for three greenhouse gas emission scenarios
Baseline and projected future carbon storage and greenhouse-gas fluxes in ecosystems of the eastern United States
National assessment of geologic carbon dioxide storage resources: data
Explore USGS some of the many research projects on greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration.
Methodology Development and Assessment of National Carbon Dioxide Enhanced Oil Recovery and Associated Carbon Dioxide Storage Potential
Environmental Geochemistry
Coastal Wetland Blue Carbon
Gas Hydrates- Climate and Hydrate Interactions
Hawai‘i Carbon Storage and Greenhouse Gas Flux Assessment
Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE)
Uncovering the Ecosystem Service Value of Carbon Sequestration in National Parks
Ecology of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Coastal Wetlands
Check out some of the amazing USGS photos, infographics, and videos on greenhouse gases and carbon sequestration.
Find the answers to frequently asked questions about greenhouse gases and carbon sequestration.