2<\/sub><\/strong> levels in our experiments over time. Exactly when growth slowed down depended on various factors, but one important one was how much nitrogen the soil contained.\u201d<\/p>\nTree planting may be ineffective<\/h3>\n A factor that has not previously been taken into account is that some trees die prematurely and therefore stop binding carbon dioxide, with their carbon instead released early. Due to this, there has been much debate about the ability of our forests to mitigate the greenhouse effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe now know that we humans can\u2019t just silence our consciences by tree planting; in the long term, it doesn\u2019t actually help. The only thing that will help is for humanity to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions,\u201d said Andresen.<\/p>\n
The researchers cautioned that tree planting could actually have significant adverse effects. For example, a tundra or heath-like land is naturally a good carbon sink, so if machines roll in it to prepare the soil for tree planting, there is a risk the carbon contained in the soil will be released into the atmosphere.<\/p>\n
Soil quality is crucial<\/h3>\n Earlier theories suggested that elevated carbon dioxide levels caused biomass to grow. In outdoor studies in the US, Switzerland, Denmark and elsewhere, forests, grasses, and other vegetation were exposed to a manipulated level of carbon dioxide in the air, with the researchers measuring biomass growth. They identified that when the soil had low nitrogen concentrations, the biomass stopped increasing after a few years of growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not great news, given that carbon dioxide levels in the Earth\u2019s atmosphere have risen from 380 ppm to over 410 ppm in the last 20 years alone. After these very long experiments, we know more about how vegetation responds to elevated carbon dioxide levels. When you take the whole ecosystem, the soil\u2019s fertility and the whole life cycle of the plant into account, many ecosystems do not increase the amount of carbon they bind,\u201d concluded Andresen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to research from the University of Gothenburg, tree planting may not be the optimal strategy for reducing carbon dioxide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":25340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24433],"tags":[550,689],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Tree planting may not reduce carbon dioxide effectively<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n