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Estimates of plant CO2 uptake rise by nearly one third
ver are absorbing about 31% more carbon dioxide than previously thought, according to a new assessment developed by scientists. The research, detailed in the journal Nature, is expected to improve Earth system simulations that scientists use to predict the future climate, and spotlights the importance of natural carbon sequestration for greenhouse gas mitigation.
Researchers developed an integrated model that traces the movement of the chemical compound carbonyl sulfide, or OCS, from the air into leaf chloroplasts, the factories inside plant cells that carry out photosynthesis. Understanding how much carbon can be stored in land ecosystems, especially in forests with their large accumulations of biomass in wood, is essential to making predictions of future climate change. “Nailing down our estimates of GPP with reliable global-scale observations is a critical step in improving our predictions of future CO2 in the atmosphere, and the consequences for global climate,” said Peter Thornton, Corporate Fellow and lead for the Earth Systems Science Section at ORNL.
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