Is Climate Change Responsible For Turning Trees Into Gluttons? Here's What A New Study Says

Researchers also found that even older large trees continue adding biomass as they age due to elevated carbon dioxide levels.

Human-caused climate change will most likely turn trees into gluttons, according to a new study published in the Journal Nature Communications. The study finds that elevated carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have increased the wood volume- or the biomass- of forests in the United States.

However, the study also clarifies that other factors like climate and pests can also affect a tree's volume. The study found that elevated carbon levels consistently led to an increase in wood volume in 10 different temperate forest groups across the country. This suggests that trees are helping to shield Earth's ecosystem from the impacts of global warming through their rapid growth.

Brent Sohngen, co-author of the study and professor of environmental and resource economics at The Ohio State University said, "Forests are taking carbon out of the atmosphere at a rate of about 13per cent of our gross emissions." Mr Sohngen added, "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."

This phenomenon is called carbon fertilization: An influx of carbon dioxide increases a plant's rate of photosynthesis, which combines energy from the sun, water, and nutrients from the ground and air to produce fuel for life and spurs plant growth, reported ANI.