{"id":351997,"date":"2024-11-22T13:28:41","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T12:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=351997"},"modified":"2024-11-22T13:28:44","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T12:28:44","slug":"tailpipes-and-chimneys-greening-gardens-and-forests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=351997","title":{"rendered":"Tailpipes and Chimneys Greening Gardens and Forests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Vijay Jayaraj<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As CO2 concentrations rise, the water requirement for many plants decreases, making them more tolerant of drought.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A farmer in South Korea\u2019s Gyeongbok Province<\/a> carefully tends to his potato field, while halfway across the world the engines of a thousand cars idle on an American interstate highway. These seemingly disconnected scenes share a bond through the fertilization effect of atmospheric carbon dioxide, which has been greening the Earth for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, the CO2<\/sub> effluent of tailpipes and industrial flues are good for plants and all of life, contrary to the alarming tales that make this invisible gas an environmental bogeyman. Increasing CO2<\/sub> concentrations are literally making the world greener, and in many cases, it\u2019s sending crop production to record levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2020 study<\/a>, funded by Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science & Technology Development, reported that potatoes grown in an atmosphere of elevated CO2<\/sub>\u2014similar to what might be expected in coming decades\u2014didn\u2019t just survive but thrived!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plants yielded a \u201cdistinct increase in growth and development and canopy net photosynthetic rate during tuber initiation and bulking. Consequently, biomass and canopy net photosynthesis increased, and tuber yield increased by 20.3%,\u201d the researchers wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t just good news for potato farmers<\/a>. The CO2<\/sub> fertilization effect plays a role in the photosynthesis of all plants, and an increase in the gas acts as a kind of turbo boost. Significant increases in yields are seen in wheat, rice, soybeans and maize\u2014all staple crops that feed billions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As CO2<\/sub> concentrations rise, the water requirement for many plants decreases, making them more tolerant of drought \u2013 a scourge of farmers for millennia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the U.S. too, agriculture has flourished because of the additional CO2<\/sub> in the atmosphere, including in the agricultural heartland of the Midwest. As the data analysis in the CO2<\/sub> Coalition\u2019s report on the Midwest<\/a> shows, it is very clear that a warming climate and the atmosphere\u2019s carbon dioxide composition are increasing crop yields in the Midwest\u2019s corn and soybean regions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Americans contribute roughly 14 metric tons of carbon dioxide per person annually, those emissions are fertilizing crops across the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The greening effect extends far beyond agriculture. Satellite data from NASA has attributed the increased greenness<\/a> over the past 35 years to the combined impact of elevated CO2 levels<\/a> and optimal temperatures for plant growth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rising emissions of China and India from their increased use of fossil fuels have contributed significantly to this global greening and has benefited ambitious tree-planting programs and intensive agriculture. Certain countries in Europe have registered an increase in forest area as well. In fact, \u201c36 countries are gaining more trees<\/a> than they\u2019re losing,\u201d reports the World Resources Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, the rate of greening due to CO2<\/sub> will be much higher than the rate of browning from the expansion of arid landscapes. Researchers at a Chinese university say<\/a> that \u201cby the end of this century, drylands will expand slightly by  approximately 5%, while vegetation productivity will increase by about 50%.\u201d Elevated CO2 <\/sub>impedes the expansion of drylands and \u201cgreatly promotes vegetation growth with increases in both leaf assimilation and canopy foliage,\u201d they say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Indur Goklany<\/a> reports that 70% of Earth\u2019s recent greening is attributed to emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels and that \u201cfossil fuel dependent technologies have increased agricultural yields directly or indirectly by at least 167%.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it\u2019s the tomato plants of Europe or the tropical forests in India, it\u2019s clear that CO2<\/sub>-enriched air is greening the planet, and we as a society have been positive contributors to that. You might say that CO2<\/sub> is the green energy for plant life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This commentary was first published at California Globe<\/em><\/a> on November 18, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vijay Jayaraj<\/a> is a Science and Research Associate at the <\/em>CO2<\/sub> Coalition<\/em><\/a>, Arlington, Virginia. He <\/em>holds an M.S. in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia and a postgraduate degree in energy management from Robert Gordon University, both in the U.K., and a bachelor\u2019s in engineering from Anna University, India.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As CO2 concentrations rise, the water requirement for many plants decreases, making them more tolerant of drought.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":351999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691827130,691826022,691831612,691819660],"class_list":{"0":"post-351997","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-carbon-dioxide-co2","9":"tag-co2-concentrations","10":"tag-co2-fertilization-effect","11":"tag-photosynthesis","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/09d529b_6ae873205cbe440ca5efd27f71a841c9mv2.webp?fit=1920%2C1081&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1tzn","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":226805,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=226805","url_meta":{"origin":351997,"position":0},"title":"The Dangers of Low Atmospheric CO2 Concentrations","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/11\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Thus, CO2\u00a0literally is the \u201cfood\u201d that sustains essentially all plants (and animals who consume plants, including humans) on the face of the Earth. And when that food supply is diminished, nature begins to diminish.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/image-25.png?fit=1200%2C606&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/image-25.png?fit=1200%2C606&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/image-25.png?fit=1200%2C606&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/image-25.png?fit=1200%2C606&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/image-25.png?fit=1200%2C606&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":200563,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=200563","url_meta":{"origin":351997,"position":1},"title":"CO2 Enrichment Improves Plant Water-Use Efficiency","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"20\/05\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By\u00a0Craig D. Idso \u201cGratefully, nature does not have to wait another century or so for the air\u2019s CO2\u00a0concentration to double before reaping benefits from enhanced water use efficiency. 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