Flourishing vegetation increases carbon dioxide amplitude
Thursday, January 28, 2016 - 05:32
in Earth & Climate
All over the world, monitoring stations are registering rising atmospheric levels of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. However, in high northern latitudes another trend can also be seen: seasonal variation in carbon dioxide concentration has been increasing since the 1960s. This is mainly due to increasing plant growth in the North, according to a paper published in the latest issue of Science by researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Biogeochemistry in Jena and their colleagues at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and from the US. Higher temperatures allow more forests to expand, enhancing photosynthesis. In summer, the vegetation absorbs more carbon dioxide.