A study into global warming has revealed our planet is now absorbing a much larger amount of carbon dioxide than it was 25 years ago.
The finding poses many questions - particularly whether the increase is temporary. If so, reducing CO2 levels may get even harder in years to come.
New Zealand scientist Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher who was involved in the study says it’s been known for quite sometime what happens to CO2 released from burning fossil fuels.
“About half of it actually stays in the atmosphere and the other half is naturally taken up, part of it is going into the oceans and part of it is going into the biosphere which means it’s taken up by land ecosystems by plants and soils.”
Dr Mikaloff-Fletcher says there was a big increase in CO2 absorption by the earth’s biosphere in the 1980s.
However she says although it’s good news, it is not the ultimate solution to this planet’s woes.
“This is not a magic bullet that’s going to solve all our climate problems. The uptake of CO2 by land defintely is good news for us - it helps to slow climate change by taking up CO2, but… at some point you reach a limit beyond which the land cant take up very much additional CO2.”
Watch the full interview
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