Trees have been known for a long time to be one of the most important carbon dioxide ‘sponges in the world, next to oceans and exposed volcanic rock. Climate scientists have been basing their studies and climate models on the faith that the world’s forests can absorb a certain amount of CO2 each year, but it would seem that they were wrong to do so. According to new investigations, the trees appear to be getting more and more inefficient at soaking up the devastating greenhouse gas, which is nothing but trouble to nations under the threat of floods and desertification. ‘Our findings contradict studies of other ecosystems that conclude longer growing seasons actually increase plant carbon uptake, University of Colorado in Boulder (UCB) former graduate student Jia Hu explains. The expert worked in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department, and also enlisted the help of experts in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, or CIRES, at UCB. The direct consequence that these conclusions imply is that CO2 concentrations may actually be growing faster in the atmosphere. In addition to more carbon dioxide being emitted by power plants, industries and vehicles, it would appear that atmospheric concentrations […]