Climate warming will not increase CO₂ emissions by trees - study
Kyiv • UNN
An international study has shown that thermal acclimatization of plants reduces the respiration rate of trees, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions. The discovery may adjust forecasts regarding the carbon balance of ecosystems.
A new international study has shown that climate warming may not lead to a significant increase in carbon dioxide emissions by trees, as previously thought. This is reported by UNN with reference to Phys.org.
Details
According to an international study, the results of which are published in the journal Science, scientists have found that long-term thermal acclimatization of plants reduces the rate of respiration of tree trunks, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions.
This discovery may adjust forecasts regarding the carbon balance of ecosystems in the context of global warming.
These conclusions are the results of the work of an international research group, which includes the chief researcher of the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment of Western Sydney University, Professor Ian Wright.
Professor Wright and his team studied trees from all over the world to measure the rate of carbon dioxide release from trunks, and to test a new theory about how the rate of such "breathing" affects the environment.
Scientists have long expected that climate warming will inevitably lead to an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide that plants release into the atmosphere, which, in turn, will lead to even more warming.
This is probably true, but this latest study shows that carbon flows in a warmer climate in the future will not increase as much as is currently believed
Professor Wright and his colleagues tested their theory using a global wood respiration dataset consisting of thousands of measurements taken on hundreds of wood species from field plots covering all major climatic zones of the world.