July 16th

By Mutt Mulligan

How Much Carbon Do Plants Soak Up?

For the first time, scientists have calculated exactly how much CO2 vegetation soaks up. 

Researchers from 18 scientific institutions used observations and calculations to determine the amount of CO2 exchange between global vegetation and the atmosphere. The new results are the most accurate to date. They have concluded that the total terrestrial vegetation captures 123 petagrams of carbon annually (in other words, 123 billion tonnes per year). The research team also discovered that precipitation played an important role in the amount of carbon that plants capture by means of photosynthesis. Precipitation plays a key role in more than 40% of the vegetated regions. 

For more on this study:

http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/10070755-role-plant-life-global-climate-accurately-determined.html