Increased soil emissions of potent greenhouse gases under increased atmospheric CO2

Published by Ecoss on

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Researchers at Ecoss helped to uncover a potent offset to carbon “drawdown” by plants:  with more CO2 available to fuel photosynthesis in the air above, soil microbes consume more sugars oozing from the roots of the faster-growing plants and increase their own greenhouse-gas emissions during respiration.  These emissions offset the climate cooling effect of the plants’ carbon sequestration, dramatically changing the net climate effects calculated from plant growth alone.

 

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