The increasing proliferation of plant life in the Arctic may not be a massive difference-maker in the battle against global warming, new research reveals.
The Arctic is Getting Greener, but the Change is Lower than Expected
Written by AZoCleantechApr 30 2021
There was a hope that as more plants start to grow in Arctic and boreal latitudes as our warming climate makes those regions more hospitable for plants, those photosynthesizing plants would work to help sequester the atmospheric carbon dioxide that helped them flourish in the first place.
But new research led by scientists at UC Irvine and Boston University, out in
Nature Climate Change, suggests that all the new green biomass is not as large a carbon sink as scientists had hoped. What does greening really mean? Can we really trust it to save us from climate change? said Jon Wang, an Earth system scientist at UCI who the led the work alongside BU Earth & Environment professor Mark Friedl.
Scientists Have Underestimated the Impact of Fires on Earth’s Northern Forests
Written by AZoCleantechApr 30 2021
New research indicates that the computer-based models currently used to simulate how Earth s climate will change in the future underestimate the impact that forest fires and drying climate are having on the world s northernmost forests, which make up the largest forest biome on the planet. It s an important understanding because these northern forests absorb a significant amount of Earth s carbon dioxide.
The finding, reached by studying 30 years of the world s forests using NASA satellite imaging data, suggests that forests won t be able to sequester as much carbon as previously expected, making efforts to reduce carbon emissions all the more urgent.
TORONTO While the Arctic is growing greener with climate change, scientists warn that it is not greening fast enough to absorb very much carbon dioxide. According to new research from scientists at Boston University and University of California Irvine (UCI), there was hope that as more plants start to grow in the Arctic with the climate warming, those plants would be able to help photosynthesize the atmospheric carbon dioxide that helped them grow in the first place. However, scientists now say the greening is not nearly enough to curb global warming on the continent. The study, published Thursday in Nature Climate Change, suggests that new green biomass in the Arctic is not as large a carbon sink as previously thought.