Scientists Were Wrong: Plants Absorb 31% More CO2 Than Previously Thought

 New research shows plants absorb 31% more CO2 than previously estimated, raising the global GPP to 157 petagrams per year.

Photosynthesis is how plants and some microorganisms use sunlight to synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water.

A new assessment by scientists reveals that plants worldwide are absorbing about 31% more carbon dioxide than previously believed.

The amount of CO2 removed from the atmosphere via photosynthesis from land plants is known as Terrestrial Gross Primary Production, or GPP. It represents the largest carbon exchange between land and atmosphere on the planet.

A team of scientists led by Cornell University, with support from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, used new models and measurements to assess GPP from the land at 157 petagrams of carbon per year, up from an estimate of 120 petagrams established 40 years ago and currently used in most estimates of Earth's carbon cycle.

Key to the new estimate is a better representation of a process called mesophyll diffusion - how OCS and CO2 move from leaves into chloroplasts where carbon fixation occurs.

The discovery suggests that rainforests are a more important natural carbon sink than previously estimated using satellite data.

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-were-wrong-plants-absorb-31-more-co2-than-previously-thought/