Post by scpg02 on Oct 20, 2014 14:45:06 GMT
Massive CO2 sink down under
Thursday, 22 May 2014 Anna Salleh
www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2014/05/22/4009078.htm
Thursday, 22 May 2014 Anna Salleh
Australian savannah was largely responsible for a massive spike in the amount of CO2 absorbed by land plants in 2011, new research has found.
The findings suggest that semi-arid areas could become key carbon sinks in the future, says Dr Pep Canadell of the Global Carbon Project and CSIRO.
But, he adds, because these areas hold carbon for a relatively short term compared to tropical forests, their implications for future climate change needs to be studied carefully.
Each year, land plants and the ocean absorb about half of the 10 billion tonnes of carbon emitted into the atmosphere by human activity.
On average, says Canadell, carbon sinks on land absorb around 2.6 billion tonnes of carbon, but in 2011 this figure spiked to about 4.1 billion, accompanied by a big drop in atmospheric CO2.
"The land had removed more anthropogenic CO2 than ever before recorded," he says.
~snip~
The findings suggest that semi-arid areas could become key carbon sinks in the future, says Dr Pep Canadell of the Global Carbon Project and CSIRO.
But, he adds, because these areas hold carbon for a relatively short term compared to tropical forests, their implications for future climate change needs to be studied carefully.
Each year, land plants and the ocean absorb about half of the 10 billion tonnes of carbon emitted into the atmosphere by human activity.
On average, says Canadell, carbon sinks on land absorb around 2.6 billion tonnes of carbon, but in 2011 this figure spiked to about 4.1 billion, accompanied by a big drop in atmospheric CO2.
"The land had removed more anthropogenic CO2 than ever before recorded," he says.
~snip~
www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2014/05/22/4009078.htm
