In the past and for a long time, it was believed that trees and forests were the agents responsible for reducing the climate and CO₂ levels. But recently, scientists studying fossils of primitive plants discovered that the level of CO₂ in the atmosphere It's not that different from the past. This indicates that climate variations are even more sensitive to changes in CO₂ concentration than previously thought.
Changes in climate are more affected by CO₂ than previously thought
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Using new methods to calculate the CO₂ concentration in plant fossils, scientists have reached new conclusions. The studies are carried out at the University of Copenhagen and assess CO₂ levels in the early atmosphere.
They believe that small changes in CO2 concentration are capable of changing the climate more efficiently than previously believed.
Analysis of CO₂ concentration in plant fossils
The researchers used quantification techniques to estimate the CO₂ concentration in these plants. Before, it was believed that the emergence of forests reduced the concentration of atmospheric CO₂, which would be approximately 4000 ppm (parts per million).
However, the results indicate that the concentration was 600 ppm, a value close to the current one.
Climate changes
As the CO₂ concentration is not so different from thousands of years ago, but the climate has risen significantly, the researchers draw a conclusion. A slight change in CO₂ concentration can dramatically raise global temperatures.
Global temperature is of great importance for natural processes such as cloud formation, water vapour, sea currents and rainfall, which can be affected by changes in climate.
Primitive plants are more effective at removing CO₂
Tais Dahl, a scientist at the University, says that current trees are not as efficient at removing CO₂ from the atmosphere when compared to vascular plants. Vascular plants had shallow roots and existed before trees, so they were more effective at removing CO₂.
They believe that the appearance of primitive vascular plants caused the reduction of CO₂ levels. This is because the shallow roots of these plants do not retain nutrients from the soil as well as the current plants, and therefore need to absorb more nutrients from the subsoil through the weathering of minerals.
