Clipping Board » Environmental Pollution & Change ─ How dirty the human heart is, how dirty the environment will be...
Update Date: 2008/09/18 12:20 Zhang Zhongwan
(AFP, Paris, 17th)
The British-based scientific journal "Nature" today published a study that implicitly addresses the awareness of combating global warming. The report indicates that plants and soil take two years to recover their normal carbon absorption capacity after experiencing an exceptionally hot year.
The authors stated that the slow recovery of green spaces prompts a reconsideration of the absorption capacity of grasslands and soils, which act like sponges to absorb carbon dioxide from the air, commonly referred to as "carbon sinks."
Scientists from Nevada, USA, conducted a special experiment in central Oklahoma, delineating several plots of grassland over 2.4 meters long, 1.2 meters wide, and 1.8 meters deep, untouched by human activity.
The scientists then placed these mini ecosystems into four container-sized laboratories, carefully replicating light, temperature, and rainfall, and monitored carbon dioxide levels.
Over the next four years, the scientists designed the climate conditions of two laboratories based on the previous seven years of climate data from the native area.
However, they increased the temperature of the other two laboratories by 4 degrees Celsius in the second year of the experiment.
Professor Arnone from the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada, told AFP: "We aimed to observe the recovery process of the ecosystem by drastically altering the climate for one year."
"Essentially, by raising the temperature for one year, we wanted to explore: 'How long will the effects of this year last? And which processes are affected?'"
Arnone's research team found that the two experimental plots absorbed two-thirds less carbon gas during the abnormally warm year and the following year compared to plots under natural climate conditions.
Arnone stated that the significance of these research findings lies in their indication of the impact of persistent heatwaves on the 20% of the world's grasslands and forests.
The study also identified other factors that need to be considered when estimating natural carbon sinks, which are believed to play a crucial role in offsetting man-made greenhouse gases.
Source: http:/ / tw. news. yahoo. com/ art……url/ d/ a/ 080918/ 19/ 164vq. html
Greenland's Carbon Absorption Takes Two Years to Recover after High-Temperature Year
(AFP, Paris, 17th)
The British-based scientific journal "Nature" today published a study that implicitly addresses the awareness of combating global warming. The report indicates that plants and soil take two years to recover their normal carbon absorption capacity after experiencing an exceptionally hot year.
The authors stated that the slow recovery of green spaces prompts a reconsideration of the absorption capacity of grasslands and soils, which act like sponges to absorb carbon dioxide from the air, commonly referred to as "carbon sinks."
Scientists from Nevada, USA, conducted a special experiment in central Oklahoma, delineating several plots of grassland over 2.4 meters long, 1.2 meters wide, and 1.8 meters deep, untouched by human activity.
The scientists then placed these mini ecosystems into four container-sized laboratories, carefully replicating light, temperature, and rainfall, and monitored carbon dioxide levels.
Over the next four years, the scientists designed the climate conditions of two laboratories based on the previous seven years of climate data from the native area.
However, they increased the temperature of the other two laboratories by 4 degrees Celsius in the second year of the experiment.
Professor Arnone from the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada, told AFP: "We aimed to observe the recovery process of the ecosystem by drastically altering the climate for one year."
"Essentially, by raising the temperature for one year, we wanted to explore: 'How long will the effects of this year last? And which processes are affected?'"
Arnone's research team found that the two experimental plots absorbed two-thirds less carbon gas during the abnormally warm year and the following year compared to plots under natural climate conditions.
Arnone stated that the significance of these research findings lies in their indication of the impact of persistent heatwaves on the 20% of the world's grasslands and forests.
The study also identified other factors that need to be considered when estimating natural carbon sinks, which are believed to play a crucial role in offsetting man-made greenhouse gases.
Source: http:/ / tw. news. yahoo. com/ art……url/ d/ a/ 080918/ 19/ 164vq. html