1.   But the science of carbon sinks is terrifyingly imprecise, scientists warn.

2.   That failure will most likely be papered over with creative accounting, shifting definitions of carbon sinks, and so on.

3.   The biggest source of contention is carbon sinks.

4.   It would also include controversial -- and unproven -- schemes such as large scale tree plantations, intended to act as carbon sinks.

5.   He suggests that the new forests are the missing carbon sink which has puzzled scientists for some years.

6.   About half of carbon emissions are eventually absorbed by natural carbon sinks in the oceans and on land.

7.   In many ways, however, human activity has been shrinking carbon sinks rather than expanding them.

8.   The implication is that cuts made via market mechanisms such as trading, or the clever use of carbon sinks, are somehow unworthy.

9.   The trees, they said, would act as carbon sinks, growing faster and absorbing more carbon dioxide as power plants spewed more of it into the atmosphere.

10.   Australia argued that by slowing the clearance of forests, and creating so-called carbon sinks, it would offset the increase in greenhouse gas emissions.