A study looked at carbon changes in farmland near the Hexi oasis in Gansu from 1949 to 2005. Over this time, the amount of carbon captured by farmland increased by 12.23 times. However, carbon emissions from the same farmland rose by 302.8 times, mainly due to increased fertilizer use. Despite the farmland storing more carbon than it releases, the rise in emissions is concerning. This means that farmland around the Hexi oasis can pull in a lot of carbon but might not be able to keep up with the growing emissions.