EXPERT REACTION: Rising carbon emissions and agriculture help boost plant growth
Plant growth across the globe has increased over the last 30 years in part due to rising CO2, but also because of the expansion of agriculture, according to international and Australian research. The study found that plant growth had increased fairly consistently between 1982 and 2011 and that around 65 per cent of the change could be explained by three factors: expanding croplands, rising CO2 and intensifying nitrogen deposition. But before you get excited that plants might help save us from climate change, the researchers say expanding agriculture can also cause the loss of soil carbon which would increase carbon emissions.
Journal/conference: Nature Ecology & Evolution
Link to research (DOI): 10.1038/s41559-018-0714-0
Organisation/s: CSIRO, East China Normal University, China
Funder: This work was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China, National Natural Science Foundation and National 1000 Young Talents Program of China.
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Expert Reaction
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