The study conducted at the Ohio State University has found that the tree trunk volume in the United States has increased by 29 % in the last three decades
RH Desk
October 11
In a reassurance of the role trees play in the fight against climate change, a new study in the United States revealed that trees are becoming bigger because of absorbing more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The study proves the key role trees play in mitigating climate change.
The study conducted at the Ohio State University has found that the tree trunk volume in the United States has increased by 29 %in the last three decades.
“Over the period 1970 to 2015, carbon dioxide concentrations increased by 75 parts per million, and we find that this increase in carbon dioxide stimulated an increase in wood volume in naturally regenerated 75-year-old forests in the United States by 12.3 %,” the study published in journal Nature Communications, said.
While the study recognizes that a tree’s growth may also be impacted by other factors as well, it was able to establish a link between the increasing level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the increasing wood volume in the trees.
For those fighting climate change, the research is good news in more than one way.
“Forests are taking carbon out of the atmosphere at a rate of about 13% of our gross emissions,” said Brent Sohngen, co-author of the study and professor of environmental and resource economics at The Ohio State University. “While we’re putting billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, we’re actually taking much of it out just by letting our forests grow.”
The study may also add weight to the efforts of planting more and more trees in order to reverse climate change.
“We should be planting more trees and preserving older ones because at the end of the day they’re probably our best bet for mitigating climate change,” Sohngen said.
