edthecynic
Censored for Cynicism
- Oct 20, 2008
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Life in the Greenhouse: Losing Our Cool : Discovery NewsWow, you are a whackjob aren't you!Gee, no surprise CON$ are ass backwards!
As an increase in carbon dioxide decreases evaporative cooling by plants, global warming increases.
Wow. He's kinda weak when it comes to science.
The complicated give-and-take between our changing climate and the plant life of the planet is taking on a new look. Just when we need it most, it appears, rising concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are likely to raise temperatures even further by dialing down the natural air conditioning effects of trees and other vegetation.
Researchers at Carnegie Institution for Science have completed modeling simulations showing that at heightened levels of CO2 -- twice the pre-industrial levels -- this reduced-cooling effect on vegetation will account for 16 percent of the warming around the globe, and in some places -- North America and Asia -- it will represent 25 percent of the warming.
The map, courtesy of the Carnegie Institution, shows the percentage of predicted warming due to the direct effect of carbon dioxide on plants.
Scientists have known for some time that growing plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and that they expel water vapor through pores in their leaves, a process known as evapotranspiration that cools the plant and surrounding air. Earlier work by Carnegie researchers described how heightened levels of carbon dioxide cause these pores to shrink, causing less water to be released, reducing the cooling.