Rsing CO2 levels are re-greening Africa's deserts, bringing abundance that lifts people out of pover

[Wyatt earp]

Satellite data shows the per cent amount that foliage cover has changed around the world from 1982 to 2010.
Credit: Image courtesy of CSIRO Australia


Increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) have helped boost green foliage across the world's arid regions over the past 30 years through a process called CO2fertilisation, according to CSIRO research.

In findings based on satellite observations, CSIRO, in collaboration with the Australian National University (ANU), found that this CO2fertilisation correlated with an 11 per cent increase in foliage cover from 1982-2010 across parts of the arid areas studied in Australia, North America, the Middle East and Africa, according to CSIRO research scientist, Dr Randall Donohue.

"In Australia, our native vegetation is superbly adapted to surviving in arid environments and it consequently uses water very efficiently," Dr Donohue said. "Australian vegetation seems quite sensitive to CO2 fertilisation.

Rising CO2 levels are re-greening Africa's deserts, bringing abundance that lifts people out of poverty


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130708103521.htm

 

[TheOldSchool]

Lol environmentalists should rephrase their argument when speaking to conservative audiences. Their message to them should be "do you want to be responsible for the rise of Africa?" I'm sure that will stir conservatives to action.

 

[Wyatt earp]

Lol environmentalists should rephrase their argument when speaking to conservative audiences. Their message to them should be "do you want to be responsible for the rise of Africa?" I'm sure that will stir conservatives to action.

Lol You couldn't have said it better. It seems to me both sides are well, on the wrong side when it comes to Africa.

He'll a few years ago Bono praised capitalism and said it was the only thing to help Africa.

 

[TheOldSchool]

Lol environmentalists should rephrase their argument when speaking to conservative audiences. Their message to them should be "do you want to be responsible for the rise of Africa?" I'm sure that will stir conservatives to action.

Lol You couldn't have said it better. It seems to me both sides are well, on the wrong side when it comes to Africa.

He'll a few years ago Bono praised capitalism and said it was the only thing to help Africa.

True. But only once the first world stops propping up their crazy dictators. It's hard for capitalism to benefit you when the rest of the world is using it to rape you.

 

[IanC]

Hard to believe, but the Sahara was lush grassland only a few thousand years ago until the tilt of the Earth stopped the monsoons. THAT was real climate change.

 

[Wyatt earp]

Hard to believe, but the Sahara was lush grassland only a few thousand years ago until the tilt of the Earth stopped the monsoons. THAT was real climate change.

Is that what they say caused it?

 

[flacaltenn]

Satellite data shows the per cent amount that foliage cover has changed around the world from 1982 to 2010.
Credit: Image courtesy of CSIRO Australia


Increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) have helped boost green foliage across the world's arid regions over the past 30 years through a process called CO2fertilisation, according to CSIRO research.

In findings based on satellite observations, CSIRO, in collaboration with the Australian National University (ANU), found that this CO2fertilisation correlated with an 11 per cent increase in foliage cover from 1982-2010 across parts of the arid areas studied in Australia, North America, the Middle East and Africa, according to CSIRO research scientist, Dr Randall Donohue.

"In Australia, our native vegetation is superbly adapted to surviving in arid environments and it consequently uses water very efficiently," Dr Donohue said. "Australian vegetation seems quite sensitive to CO2 fertilisation.

Rising CO2 levels are re-greening Africa's deserts, bringing abundance that lifts people out of poverty


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130708103521.htm

Global Greening.. Quick -- think of some reason this is bad.

 

[Crick]

From the website of the organization that produced that study: CSIRO Australia. I hope no one needs to see the PNAS statement on global warming again.

• Research ​
• Oceans and Atmosphere ​
• Climate​

Climate change questions and answers

Here we address some of the common questions raised about the changing climate and the science involved in studying it.

• What is climate change?
  Climate change refers to any long-term trends or shifts in climate over many decades.​
• How has climate changed in the past?
  There is a great deal of evidence that the Earth's climate has warmed over the past century.​
• Why do sea levels change?
  Sea levels can change for a variety of reasons over a range of different time scales.​
• How is the composition of the atmosphere changing?
  Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere have risen rapidly during the past two centuries.​
• How is climate likely to change in the future?
  The Earth's future climate will depend on whether the world manages to slow or even reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but warming is likely to continue.​
• How else are the oceans changing?
  As well as rising sea levels, the oceans are getting warmer and more acidic.​
• How is extreme weather changing?
  A changing climate leads to changes in the frequency, intensity, spatial extent and duration of extreme weather and climate events.​
• How does CSIRO study climate change?
  Our climate researchers use climate simulations to project future climate decades in advance.​
• What are the impacts of climate change?
  Increases in extreme climate events will pose challenges for Australia in the future.​
• How does research inform our response to climate change?
  Scientific research can lead to the development of solutions to help us adapt to climate challenges and to cut our greenhouse gas emissions.​
• Is the science settled?
  A distinction needs to be made between science that is robust and science that is relatively uncertain. All conclusions should be based on peer-reviewed literature.​
• Where can I find more information about climate change?
  Peer-reviewed papers provide a reliable and quality-assured source of information on climate change science.​

 

[Crick]

The conclusion of the actual paper behind this article:

Impact of CO2 fertilization on maximum foliage cover across the globe's warm, arid environments - Donohue - 2013 - Geophysical Research Letters - Wiley Online Library

Conclusion

[18] The increase in water use efficiency of photosynthesis with rising Ca has long been anticipated to lead to increased foliage cover in warm, arid environments [Berry and Roderick, 2002; Bond and Midgley, 2000; Farquhar, 1997; Higgins and Scheiter, 2012], and both satellite and ground observations from the world's rangelands reveal widespread changes toward more densely vegetated and woodier landscapes [Buitenwerf et al., 2012; Donohue et al., 2009; Knapp and Soule, 1996;Morgan et al., 2007; Scholes and Archer, 1997]. Our results suggest that Ca has played an important role in this greening trend and that, where water is the dominant limit to growth, cover has increased in direct proportion to the CO2-driven rise in Wp. This CO2 fertilization cover effect warrants consideration as an important land surface process.
[19] The results reported here for warm, arid regions do not simply translate to other environments where alternative resource limitations (e.g., light, nutrients, temperature) might dominate, although the underlying theory remains valid (equations ((1))–((3))). The remaining challenges are to develop a more general understanding of how the increase in Ca is shared between Al and El in environments that are not warm and arid and to develop capacity to quantify the multiple potential flow-on effects of fertilization in these environments, such as widespread changes in surface albedo, an increase in fire fuel loads for a given P, and possible reductions in stream flows due to enhanced rooting systems [Buitenwerf et al., 2012].
[20] Overall, our results confirm that the direct biochemical impact of the rapid increase in Ca over the last 30 years on terrestrial vegetation is an influential and observable land surface process.

That increased CO2 can result in increased foliage in arid regions has been long known and is not challenged by anyone that I have ever heard. The dominant opinion among experts is that the denigrating influences of global warming will vastly outweigh the positive affects and that this greening will NOT feed the starving poor without enormous efforts to relocate agricultural production to affected areas. And, mind you, the greatest improvements are taking place in arid areas, formerly unsuitable for agriculture and thus lacking the infrastructure to support such activities.

Note the numerous references to other papers supporting CO2 fertilization and the date of this paper. It is certainly not new or groundbreaking research.

 

[Old Rocks]

It has always been a source of amazement to me that the denialists will take one or two lines out of a long and carefully written paper and present it as the whole content of the paper. Often presenting an impression that is 180 degrees from what the paper states. They simply seem unable to read the whole paper, or are purposefully lying about the content of the paper.

For our less intelligent posters, I think that they just present what is on 'Conservative' blog sites without any attempt to actually read a scientific article. There are other posting here that are purposefully dishonest.

 

[Wyatt earp]

I forgot about this thread

 

[Muhammed]

Increasing CO2 levels are literally making the desert bloom.

Carbon dioxide is a very beneficial byproduct of burning fossil fuels for energy. And it benefits everybody. It is the green gas.