Trees grow fast thanks to the greenhouse effect

Plants are growing at a faster rate because of the increasing amount of carbon dioxide in the air. This situation can help people have more time in the fight against climate change.

Photo: Telegraph.

Biological experts found that the phenomenon of rapid growth occurs in many flora, from tropical forests to sugar beets. Plants grow by taking CO2 from the air and using sunlight to turn it into proteins and sugars.

Since 1750, airborne CO2 concentrations have increased from 278 parts per million to more than 380 parts per million. This situation helps plants have more CO2 to grow faster.

Scientists at the University of Leeds (UK) measured the circumference of 70,000 plants in 10 African countries and compared them with similar data in a study four decades ago. The results showed that, on average, all trees grew faster and every hectare of African forests 'locked up' added 0.6 tons of CO2 over the 60s.

If this happens in all tropical forests around the world, every year trees will help eliminate nearly 5 billion tons of CO ₂ in the atmosphere. Scientists hope that an increase in atmospheric CO _{2 will} also increase yields of major grains such as soybeans, rice and corn.

However, many experts warn us not to be excited about the discovery of Leeds University. They point out that despite the increase in CO ₂ in the air that makes plants grow faster, other climate change factors such as drought, temperature rise can inhibit the growth rate of plants. .

Fred Pearce, an environmental expert at New Scientist magazine, said: 'We know that the forest absorbs only half of CO ₂ in the air, the other half is taken away by nature. The faster growing trees cannot change the fact that CO2 increases by 2% every year. The University of Leeds finding does not give us more time to deal with the greenhouse effect, but it urges people to protect existing forests. '

Professor Martin Parry, director of plant research at Rothamsted Institute (UK), said: 'Every expert agreed that the growth rate of trees in many parts of the world increased markedly thanks to the increasing CO ₂ in the atmosphere. Only human beings release too much CO2 and plants can only lose a small part. '

According to estimates by scientists, every year humans release about 50 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.