Trees work harder to absorb carbon dioxide when there's more of it in the air: study

Researchers have found that as the amount of carbon dioxide in the air increases, so does the amount of CO2 taken in by trees. However, this alone is not enough to avert the harmful effects of climate change from human-caused CO2 emissions.

Researchers in the United Kingdom sprayed carbon dioxide into a mature oak forest three years in a row, to see how the trees would react.

They found that the trees increased their photosynthesis activity – the process that converts the harmful greenhouse gas into oxygen – by 33 per cent. In other words, the trees were able to adapt to the newly CO2-rich atmosphere and do more to clean it up.

However, as CTV News Science and Technology Specialist Dan Riskin explains in this week's Riskin Report, the trees' mighty efforts aren't enough on their own to counteract the real increase in CO2 emissions caused by humans.

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