New research out of West Virginia University says trees are now taking up more Carbon Dioxide than ever recorded. And because forests are the planet’s carbon sink, trees all over the world are actually growing larger to keep up with rising CO2.
Mixed deciduous forest within the Monongahela National Forest in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia 2018
Credit Justin Mathias
What's known as the Gaia theory posits, earth is a self-regulating system with a positive feedback loop that somehow, keeps things in homeostasis or balance.
“We know that CO2 has been building up since the industrial revolution,” says Richard Thomas, professor of biology at WVU. “There's been a 48% increase since then.”