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Trees are Great Carbon and Methane Sinks - we need billions more Trees

Trees might not be acting in the way we thought - this forest fitted with pipes can tell us why

Thomas Downes A photo looking up at trees with sunlight peaking through (Credit: Thomas Downes)

By simulating the future atmosphere, scientists hope to understand whether trees will continue to act as the lungs of the planet.

"The oak is the queen of her domain," says Rob MacKenzie as he gestures towards a giant towering above us. This oak tree has stood in this very spot since long before he or I walked the Earth. 

METHANE - the most potent Greenhouse Warming Gas

Methane accounts for more than one-quarter of the anthropogenic radiative imbalance since the pre-industrial age. Its largest sources include both natural and human-mediated pathways: wetlands, fossil fuels (oil/gas and coal), agriculture (livestock and rice cultivation), landfills, and fires. The dominant loss of methane is through oxidation in the atmosphere via the hydroxyl radical (OH). Apart from its radiative effects, methane impacts background tropospheric ozone levels, the oxidative capacity of the atmosphere, and stratospheric water vapor. As such, changes in the abundance of atmospheric methane can have profound impacts on the future state of our climate.

 

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