Grasslands in China store a lot of carbon, helping regulate the Earth's carbon levels. By studying grasslands in five provinces using ground surveys and satellite data, it was found that China's grasslands cover a total area of 331,000 square kilometers. In 2008, these grasslands stored a total of 35.96 billion tons of carbon. Most of this carbon is stored underground, with soil holding about 5 times more carbon than aboveground plants. In Chinese grasslands, the soil contains around 35.06 billion tons of organic carbon.