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Trees Absorb Less Carbon in Warming World Than Experts Have Assumed

24.05.2012

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that while trees certainly help counteract rising temperatures, they are absorbing 3.4 percent less carbon than had been assumed in models used in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports. More CO2 in the atmosphere means more warming. “Plants are not able to capitalize on that (added warmth) as much as we thought”, said Bill Bauerle, an ecophysiologist at Colorado State University and lead author of the study. “The trees look perfectly healthy, and you'd think they'd be physiologically active, but they're not. Trees are still a very good thing. We should still plant trees. But we need to realize there's a limit to what they can do.”

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