Posted on 09/23/2019 8:58:59 AM PDT by grundle
From a quarter to half of Earths vegetated lands has shown significant greening over the last 35 years largely due to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change on April 25.
An international team of 32 authors from 24 institutions in eight countries led the effort, which involved using satellite data from NASAs Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer instruments to help determine the leaf area index, or amount of leaf cover, over the planets vegetated regions. The greening represents an increase in leaves on plants and trees equivalent in area to two times the continental United States.
This image shows the change in leaf area across the globe from 1982-2015.
Credits: Boston University/R. Myneni
Green leaves use energy from sunlight through photosynthesis to chemically combine carbon dioxide drawn in from the air with water and nutrients tapped from the ground to produce sugars, which are the main source of food, fiber and fuel for life on Earth. Studies have shown that increased concentrations of carbon dioxide increase photosynthesis, spurring plant growth.
However, carbon dioxide fertilization isnt the only cause of increased plant growthnitrogen, land cover change and climate change by way of global temperature, precipitation and sunlight changes all contribute to the greening effect. To determine the extent of carbon dioxides contribution, researchers ran the data for carbon dioxide and each of the other variables in isolation through several computer models that mimic the plant growth observed in the satellite data.
Results showed that carbon dioxide fertilization explains 70 percent of the greening effect, said co-author Ranga Myneni, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environment at Boston University. The second most important driver is nitrogen, at 9 percent. So we see what an outsized role CO2 plays in this process.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOwHT8yS1XI
Video: From a quarter to half of Earths vegetated lands has shown significant greening over the last 35 years largely due to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. This video is public domain and can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio.
About 85 percent of Earths ice-free lands is covered by vegetation. The area covered by all the green leaves on Earth is equal to, on average, 32 percent of Earths total surface area - oceans, lands and permanent ice sheets combined. The extent of the greening over the past 35 years has the ability to fundamentally change the cycling of water and carbon in the climate system, said lead author Zaichun Zhu, a researcher from Peking University, China, who did the first half of this study with Myneni as a visiting scholar at Boston University.
Every year, about half of the 10 billion tons of carbon emitted into the atmosphere from human activities remains temporarily stored, in about equal parts, in the oceans and plants. While our study did not address the connection between greening and carbon storage in plants, other studies have reported an increasing carbon sink on land since the 1980s, which is entirely consistent with the idea of a greening Earth, said co-author Shilong Piao of the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences at Peking University.
While rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the air can be beneficial for plants, it is also the chief culprit of climate change. The gas, which traps heat in Earths atmosphere, has been increasing since the industrial age due to the burning of oil, gas, coal and wood for energy and is continuing to reach concentrations not seen in at least 500,000 years. The impacts of climate change include global warming, rising sea levels, melting glaciers and sea ice as well as more severe weather events.
The beneficial impacts of carbon dioxide on plants may also be limited, said co-author Dr. Philippe Ciais, associate director of the Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences, Gif-suv-Yvette, France. Studies have shown that plants acclimatize, or adjust, to rising carbon dioxide concentration and the fertilization effect diminishes over time.
While the detection of greening is based on data, the attribution to various drivers is based on models, said co-author Josep Canadell of the Oceans and Atmosphere Division in the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Canberra, Australia. Canadell added that while the models represent the best possible simulation of Earth system components, they are continually being improved.
410 PPM is a completely insignificant number......and only 5% of that is man made.
~~~
...and implied in all this is that CO2 is a compound with a significant greenhouse effect.
Climate Change is turning the earth in to a jungle. We’re all gonna die in 11 years!
Gosh, carbon dioxide is actually good for plants? Who ever would have thunk it?
It is almost as if carbon dioxide is not a pollutant, but is instead a trace gas naturally occurring in the atmosphere, which is necessary for the continued existence of all life on Earth.
Mr. Obvious here, ok kiddies, what do plants suck up? Thats right CO2, and what do they produce? O2. If didnt learn this in middle school on, youre a MORON.
It is a proven fact that plants, including trees and all our food crops, are capable of growing much faster at higher levels of CO2 than present in the atmosphere today. Even at the todays concentration of 400 ppm plants are relatively starved for nutrition. The optimum level of CO2 for plant growth is about 5 times higher, 2000 ppm, yet the alarmists warn it is already too high. They must be challenged every day by every person who knows the truth in this matter. CO2 is the giver of life and we should celebrate CO2 rather than denigrate it as is the fashion today.We are witnessing the Greening of the Earth as higher levels of CO2, due to human emissions from the use of fossil fuels, promote increased growth of plants around the world. This has been confirmed by scientists with CSIRO in Australia, in Germany, and in North America. Only half of the CO2 we are emitting from the use of fossil fuels is showing up in the atmosphere. The balance is going somewhere else and the best science says most of it is going into an increase in global plant biomass. And what could be wrong with that, as forests and agricultural crops become more productive? - Should We Celebrate Carbon Dioxide?
I knew this in 10th Grade Biology - in 1972.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.