Date published: 2008/09/18
The BBC says:
Plants are unlikely to soak up more carbon dioxide from the air as the planet warms, research suggests.
US scientists found that grassland took up less CO2 than usual for two years following temperatures that are now unusually hot, but may become common.
The conclusion parallels a real-world finding from Europe's 2003 heatwave, when the continent's plant life became a net producer, not absorber, of CO2.
...
A lot of faith is being placed in some circles in the capacity of trees and plants to maintain absorption of CO2 as concentrations of the gas rise, or even to use the extra CO2 to grow faster and absorb more of it.It is one of the reasons behind the recent upsurge of interest in having western governments pay to protect tropical forests.
But the DRI research is one of a number of pieces of evidence suggesting it will not always work. Some ecosystems might continue to absorb carbon dioxide, and perhaps increase the rate of absorption; others may react to warming by releasing the greenhouse gas.
"We conducted this study under current ambient levels of CO2 so we don't know for sure what'll happen in the future," said Professor Arnone.
An interesting study, and one which should lead to more research being done on the subject.
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