Heatwaves makes plants warm planet

[KennyJC]

A new study shows that during the 2003 heatwave, European plants produced more carbon dioxide than they absorbed from the atmosphere.

They produced nearly a tenth as much as fossil fuel burning globally.

The study shows that ecosystems which currently absorb CO2 from the atmosphere may in future produce it, adding to the greenhouse effect.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4269066.stm

I don't know about you, but I no longer fear for future generations of humans, but I fear for my own generation.

If plants start producing more carbon than they take in, whilst emerging economies become stronger, air travel takes many more millions of passengers and now scientists are saying that we have past the point of no return due to record loss of sea ice in the arctic. There are just so many contributing factors that say this problem is going to get much worse, much faster, before it gets any better.

I hope all the scientists are wrong and that we can live the luxury fossil fuel lifestyle forever - I don't want to become a refugee to the weather before I reach 40

 

[spidergoat]

That's true, and another fact is that when the tundra in the Arctic and Siberia thaws out, all the accumulated organic material will produce more CO2 than the amount that exists in the atmosphere today. And they won't be absorbing CO2 anymore, like you said.