CALIFORNIAN FORESTS STORE MORE CARBON THAN ANY OTHER TREES IN THE WORLD

According to a recent study, Californian redwood can absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than any other trees on our planet, including tropical rain forests!

Robert Van Pelt, a scientist at Humboldt State University who contributed to lead the research, recently said « The carbon part of a redwood may be more important than the lumber part in the coming decades. »

Scientists have long known that redwood trees, because they can live more than 1,000 years and grow to immense heights, are able to capture significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. They do it with photosynthesis, the natural process in which plants use energy from sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water to sugars that help them grow, while also releasing oxygen.

The researchers measured biomass in the 11 forests and also tested samples in a UC Berkeley elemental analyzer machine to determine how much carbon was present. What the team found out was astonishing.Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park forests store “2,600 metric tons of carbon per hectare.”

To compare, Pacific Northwest conifer forests and Australian and Tasmanian eucalyptus forests only store about 1,000 metric tons.

"We finally got the numbers," said Van Pelt. "No one has ever gotten them before. It took an army of people seven years to get all that. It was very satisfying. »

As climate change continues to warm the Earth, trees are becoming a valuable asset in reducing its impacts, experts say. The 10 hottest years globally since 1880 when modern records began have all occurred since 1998, with 2015 the hottest.

"With so much concern about elevating levels of carbon dioxide, this study shows these trees have never been more valuable," Burns said.

Original article by The Inhabitat

Photos copyrighted to The Inhabitat