The scientists hope that these findings will enable the identification of new lands for agriculture, while effectively combating the desertification processes that threaten large areas of our world.
Avi Blizovsky
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The addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, which until now was considered only as a harmful phenomenon that causes global warming, may also bring some benefit, when it works in a similar way to the addition of water to plants and forests, which thanks to it expand slightly into the dry areas. This is what a new study by Weizmann Institute scientists shows. When such a phenomenon takes place on a global level, it may manifest itself in a significant increase in forest areas, which increases the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and works to slow down the process of warming the earth.
Every year, the industry releases about 22 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. And every year, when scientists measure the increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the data does not add up: about half of the amount disappears. When you take into account the amount that can be absorbed in the sea, about seven billion tons of carbon dioxide remain - without an address. A new study by Prof. Dan Yakir and the members of the research group he heads, from the Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research at the Weizmann Institute of Science, may offer part of the solution to this mystery, which occupies many scientists in different parts of the world. In a study carried out at a unique site, on the border of the Negev, Prof. Yakir and his team discovered that it is possible that forests that spread into desert areas, in the process absorb part of the "disappearing" amount of carbon dioxide.
It is known that plants absorb carbon dioxide, but no one knows exactly how much, in which areas the absorption is higher, and how long this absorption may last. The common opinion is that forests in arid areas do not absorb much carbon dioxide, since they develop relatively slowly, and they do not have the same amount of plants as in forests found in rainy areas. Prof. Yakir and his team studied the absorption of carbon dioxide in the Yatir forest, planted by the National Fund for Israel in the Negev, 35 years ago. To his surprise, he discovered that the carbon dioxide absorption efficiency of the forest located right on the border of the desert is no less than that of other forests in the world, including those found in fertile areas.
How does the forest live so well in the desert, contrary to all expectations? ("The forest would not have been planted there if a scientist had to decide about it," says Prof. Yakir). The solution he offers
The mystery is based on the eternal dilemma of plants. They need carbon dioxide in order to carry out the photosynthesis process that leads to the creation of sugars. But in order to obtain the carbon dioxide they must open the pionia that are found in their owners and as a result
This results in losing water, which evaporates. Thus, in fact, the plant is required to decide what it needs more: water or carbon dioxide. Prof. Yakir and his team suggest that the high levels of carbon dioxide these days (in the last hundred years, since the beginning of the industrial revolution there has been an increase of about 30% in the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere), make the plant's decision easier. Under these conditions, he does not have to open the pinions wide - a relatively small opening enough that fairly adequate amounts of carbon dioxide can be absorbed in it.
As a result, less water escapes through the fins. This efficient water conservation technique keeps the moisture in the soil and allows the forest to grow more efficiently, and even expand into areas that were previously too dry to allow forests to exist. In other words, it seems that the addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, which until now was only considered a harmful phenomenon that causes global warming, actually also brings some benefit, when it acts similar to the addition of water to plants and forests, which expand slightly into the dry areas thanks to it. When such a phenomenon takes place on a global level, it may manifest itself in a significant increase in forest areas, which increases the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and works to slow down the process of warming the earth.
These findings can yield new understandings that will help in the development of effective ways to develop forestry and agriculture in dry areas, as well as help solve the mystery of the missing carbon dioxide: a new and unexpected factor for the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (the expansion of forests into dry areas), was introduced into the equation. Finding a solution to the puzzle of the missing carbon dioxide is essential since changes in the concentrations of this greenhouse gas are largely suspected of being responsible for global warming and the resulting climate changes.
The scientists hope that these findings will enable the identification of new lands for agriculture, while effectively combating the desertification processes that threaten large areas of our world.
Environmentalist - Earth
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