A recent study that was released shows that a warmer environment may cause trees to actually absorb more carbon dioxide than they do now. Research done on a small part of the Harvard Forest in Massachusetts, where the environment was artificially warmed by about 9 degrees. The warmer atmosphere caused the nitrogen cycle to speed up, freeing up inorganic nitrogen which the tree uses as nutrients more quickly, and therefore causing trees to grow faster and absorb more carbon as it grows.
Proof of this can already be seen in the old, untouched tropical rainforest's in Africa, where trees are getting bigger. These old forests absorb about a fifth of the total carbon emitted by burning fossil fuels, or about 4. 8 billion tons of CO2 each year. However, we cannot be solely dependent on the trees ability to soak up enough carbon to clean up our atmosphere, and still must be reminded to take some responsibly on how much CO2 we are emitting. We still release about 32 billion tones of it per year, 15 billion of which stays in the atmosphere, while the rest of it is absorbed into the ocean, soils and soaked up by the trees.
It is certainly an interesting concept, and good news for us, if the study turns out to be correct. But it does not deter the fact that the warming of the earth is still going to cause a myriad of other problems.
Sources:
1. cleantechnicia.com/2011/06/27/nasa-map-tracks-carbon-stored-in-tropical-forests/
2. www.necjogha.org/news/2009-03-11/trees-getting-bigger-absorbing-more-carbon
3. www.digitaljournal.com/article/307404
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