Trees absorbing less CO2 as world warms, study finds

By James Randerson, science correspondent
The Guardian, Thursday January 3 2008

The ability of forests to soak up man-made carbon dioxide is weakening, according to an analysis of two decades of data from more than 30 sites in the frozen north.

The finding published today is crucial, because it means that more of the CO2 we release will end up affecting the climate in the atmosphere rather than being safely locked away in trees or soil.

The results may partly explain recent studies suggesting that the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is increasing faster than expected. If higher temperatures mean less carbon is soaked up by plants and microbes, global warming will accelerate.

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photo: Forest managed for timber near Jokkmokk, Sweden. Photograph: Peter Essick/Aurora/Getty Images