The sunlight heats the Earth's surface. To make matters worse, burning wood actually releases more climate pollution per unit of energy produced than coal does. This occurs through the emission of too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is caused mainly by the burning of fossil fuels. By burning coal, oil, and natural gas, we accelerate the process, releasing vast amounts of carbon (carbon that took millions of years to accumulate) into the atmosphere every year. The greenhouse effect occurs when sunlight goes through the Earth's atmosphere and passes through a blanket of greenhouse gases, which include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Atmospheric carbon accumulation is greatest during forest burning and regrowth. The second-biggest source comes from discarded paper and paperboard products. But it gives an equivalent amount of CO2 from burning wood a free pass. This process takes in oxygen from the atmosphere and releases carbon dioxide. Burning wood may be close to carbon neutral in some situations, such as where it is clear that cut trees are replaced with the same trees, one for one; but in others it can emit even more carbon than coal. For example, about 70 percent of a forest may regrow in, say, 25 … An excess amount of carbon … By doing so, we move the carbon from the slow cycle to the fast cycle. A “carbon sink” is anything that absorbs large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, retaining the carbon in one form or another. Helin et al 2013). Nearly as much gets emitted by solid wood products that have likewise been discarded … Burning wood instead of coal therefore creates a carbon debt—an immediate increase in atmospheric CO 2 compared to fossil energy—that can be repaid over time only as—and if— NPP rises above the flux of carbon from biomass and soils to the atmosphere on the harvested lands. In 2009, humans released about 8.4 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuel. These emit around 40 MtCO2 a year. Dynamic analysis is required to answer the second question (e.g. "The Amazon is a carbon sink, which slows the rate of carbon dioxide build up in the atmosphere, and thus climate warming," said James Randerson from the University of California, Irvine. The carbon cycle and …