A trace gas present in the atmosphere in miniscule amounts is helping scientists answer one of the biggest questions out there: Has plant growth increased alongside rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
A trace gas present in the atmosphere in miniscule amounts is helping scientists answer one of the biggest questions out there: Has plant growth increased alongside rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
It turns out the answer is Yes – in a big way. A new study published in the April 6 edition of the journal Nature concludes that as emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels have increased since the start of the 20th century, plants around the world are utilizing 30 percent more carbon dioxide (CO2), spurring plant growth.
In 2007, NOAA scientist Stephen Montzka wrote a pivotal paper that identified the trace gas, carbonyl sulfide, as a key to estimating how much CO2 plants are taking in as they grow.
Recently, Montzka was part of a team of scientists led by Elliot Campbell of University of California, Merced, that reviewed the 54,000-year record for atmospheric carbonyl sulfide from measurements of air trapped in the snowpack at the South Pole. “When we did, we discovered a massive, changing signal from the biosphere,” he says.
Continue reading at NOAA.
Photo via NOAA.
