Build a pond ...

... and help cut down on global warming.

Research led by Iowa State University limnologist, or lake scientist, John Downing finds that ponds around the globe could absorb as much carbon as the world's oceans.

Professor Downing found that constructed ponds and lakes on farmland in the United States bury carbon at a much higher rate than expected; as much as 20-50 times the rate at which trees trap carbon. In addition, ponds were found to take up carbon at a higher rate than larger lakes.

According to this report, the two major ways that carbon is stored in ponds is by runoff from the surrounding soil (which contains carbon - in the form of decomposing plant material), and from algae and other aquatic plants which use carbon dioxide for photosynthesis.