Regards, Ivan
Posted on 05/11/2003 3:10:27 PM PDT by MadIvan
THE world’s deserts are blooming again because of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, according to Israeli scientists.
Instead of global warming causing desertification, the researchers found that it is leading to the greening of deserts as the high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere help plants to flourish.
Vegetation creeping back into arid lands could be soaking up billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide that goes “missing” from the atmosphere.
Scientists from the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel, studied the Yatir Forest, which was planted on the edge of the Negev desert 35 years ago. Their research, published in the scientific journal Global Change Biology, suggests that the forest is absorbing carbon dioxide as efficiently as vegetation in fertile areas, and confounding expectations by expanding into the desert.
The team, led by Professor Dan Yakir, has shown how high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are absorbed through pores in plant leaves, while the plant’s water transpires out of the pores into the air.
The higher levels of carbon dioxide have already been credited with making crops grow faster, helping food production in developing countries. However, Roger Higman, head of the climate change campaign at Friends of the Earth, insisted the new study didn’t mean we could all start leaving our lights on to bring life to the deserts, or drive our cars more to help the world’s poor.
“Certain increases in carbon dioxide are good for certain ecoystems, but if you have a very big increase in carbon dioxide then the rise in the temperatures outweighs the positive effects. The overall effect is negative,” he said.
Regards, Ivan
I wouldn't be surprised.
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