“Trees Use Water More Efficiently as Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Rises”

A research team led by Trevor Keenan has found that in the last two decades trees and other plants around the world have become more efficient in the use of water. The rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide allows photosynthesis in trees and plants to be shorter. The abundance of carbon dioxide can easily get into the stomata faster than in recent years. The less time it takes for the carbon dioxide to pass through the stomata the less water is let out. On the other hand, with carbon dioxide levels rising, global temperatures also rise and changes in rainfall patterns will, in decades to come, have very negative consequences for plant growth in many ecosystems around the world. In addition to the information collected from the forests in the Northeastern part of the United States, Keenan wants to collect additional information from forests around the world. If more information is collected, then a larger data-set will be created allowing Keenan to build models that will help predict the climate in years to follow. A solution to the rising levels of carbon dioxide would be to allow Keenan and his team to collect more data and create models to pinpoint what problems the carbon dioxide is causing to our environment. Barriers to the research by Kennan and his research team could be insufficient funding for the global collection of data needed for the project or the inability of Keenan, with the help of his team, to collect data from the forests around the world. In my opinion, this environmental issue is of the utmost importance and needs to be addressed immediately. The chance that our environment could be drastically changed by the rising levels of carbon dioxide is serious. This is a critical subject and needs to be corrected.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130710141845.htm