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n contrast to a
popular conservative argument, a new study has found that increased atmospheric
carbon dioxide isn’t necessarily a boon to plant growth — instead, it causes
plants to have a more difficult time absorbing nitrogen, a nutrient critical to
plant growth and health.
Published in the journal Global Change Biology, the study
found that as carbon dioxide levels in the air increase, the concentration of
nitrogen in plants decreases, thus decreasing the plant’s protein levels and
growth ability. The team of international researchers studied the impact of
increased atmospheric carbon across multiple types of ecosystems — from
grasslands for forests — by looking at large-scale field experiments conducted
in eight countries across four different continents.
“For all types of ecosystem the results show that high
carbon dioxide levels can impede plants’ ability to absorb nitrogen, and that
this negative effect is partly why raised carbon dioxide has a marginal or
non-existent effect on growth in many ecosystems,” Johan Uddling, senior
lecturer at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the
University of Gothenburg and lead researcher on the project, said in a press
statement.
Among conservatives — and some scientists — there has been a
long-held hope that climate change could actually stimulate plant growth in the
short term, as the atmosphere becomes more rich with carbon dioxide.
Read the ClimateProgress story - “High Carbon Levels Can Make It Harder For Plants To Grow”.
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