From the Brothers Grimm to Disney disaster
As greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, continue to warm the planet, climate scientists are working to understand how the planet can adapt to its new reality.
One of the key questions is how vital ecosystems, such as forests and rainforests, will adapt to climate change and whether they will survive.
Each experiment is different, but the general concept involves pumping CO2 through the trees, in order to mimic the atmosphere in years to come.
The experiments have not been going on long, but already the researchers have made some fascinating discoveries about the way trees keep our planet cool.
The excess CO2 is transported around the forest by pipes. The pipes have holes in them at certain points, to allow the CO2 to escape into the air.
This type of experiment is called free-air CO2 enrichment, or FACE. It involves looking at how elevated levels of CO2 affect various different processes in the forest.
In a quiet forest in Staffordshire, England, atmospheric scientist Rob MacKenzie and his team are conducting one such experiment.
The excess CO2 is provided by two massive tanks placed at the edge of the forest, just outside the project headquarters. They are anaerobically digesting waste.
Using a complex structure of scaffolding and pipes, they pump CO2 through the mature oak trees of the forest.
In order to find an answer to these questions, various researchers around the world are conducting experiments on forests.
The escaped CO2 only stays in the air for a minute or so before it is either absorbed by the trees or it dissipates into the surrounding air.
All throughout the forest there are strategically placed stations that collect data on things such as soil composition and insect populations.
So far, the experiment at Staffordshire has yielded two very interesting discoveries. Firstly, the data suggest that trees actually absorb more carbon as they age.
The general idea is for researchers to gain an understanding about how the elevated CO2 levels affect the whole ecosystem.
Older trees are able to absorb more carbon than younger trees because they absorb more bark–the part of a tree that can capture and store carbon for decades.
The leaves or roots of a tree tend to decay more quickly than the wood, releasing the carbon they have captured back into the atmosphere.
Discovering that trees absorb more carbon as they age only highlights the importance of preserving forests and putting an end to deforestation.
The second important discovery in the Staffordshire experiment (so far) is that the microbes living in the canopies of mature oak trees also consume methane.
The concentration of methane in the atmosphere has been rising quickly for decades, both due to natural processes and human activities.
The rising concentration of methane in the atmosphere is particularly worrying since it is much more potent than CO2 in terms of its ability to trap heat.
Indeed, methane emissions have been responsible for around one third of all climate warming since preindustrial times.
The discovery that microbes living in mature oak trees consume methane provides fresh hope in the fight to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
Indeed, the findings suggest that trees remove between 25 to 50 million tons of methane from the atmosphere each year.
According to this calculation, trees are around 7-12% better for the climate than we currently give them credit for.
The experiment in Staffordshire is the one that has yielded the most results so far. However, there are also experiments underway in different parts of the world.
One such experiment is being conducted in a patch of mature rainforest in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon.
Researchers are using the same FACE technology as in the Staffordshire experiment, in the hopes of learning how climate change will affect the world’s largest rainforest.
The team are particularly interested to learn what is happening underground during the experiment. For example, they are aiming to observe whether the tree roots are getting enough water and nutrients.
At the same time, researchers are looking at how climate change might affect the biodiversity of the rainforest.
Understanding this will enable them to better predict how and whether the habitat will be able to provide food, wood, medicine, and even rain in the future.
Sources: (BBC)
See also: Discover the country with the world's largest forest
In various countries around the world, climate scientists are conducting experiments on forests with the aim of learning how they will cope in a warmer world. And although the experiments are far from finished, researchers have already made some fascinating discoveries about trees and the role they play in keeping the planet cool.
Curious? Check out this gallery to find out more.
Important climate learnings from experiments on forests
And what we are learning about the role of trees
LIFESTYLE Global warming
In various countries around the world, climate scientists are conducting experiments on forests with the aim of learning how they will cope in a warmer world. And although the experiments are far from finished, researchers have already made some fascinating discoveries about trees and the role they play in keeping the planet cool.
Curious? Check out this gallery to find out more.