Scientists continue to study the earth’s climate in an effort to make vital predictions about the earth’s health and critical components such as carbon dioxide levels many years from now. Studying a subject as broad as the earth’s climate with so many potential variables involved obviously poses some significant challenges. And this task is made all the more difficult due to such a large number of potential factors that we aren’t even aware of yet. However, recent research conducted by members of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the University of Cambridge, UK have uncovered some vital information regarding future carbon dioxide levels that may prove to be quite helpful.

We already knew that climate has a direct affect on plant life, more specifically, that climate change has the potential to increase tropical forest growth rates. And this stimulated tree growth augments the amount of dead bio matter such as leaves and bark that falls to the ground (litterfall). But something we were previously unaware of is how this increase in tree growth and the corresponding increase in litterfall may affect the levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the future.

The elevated levels of litterfall have the potential to affect microorganisms in the soil around the trees, catalyzing the release of carbon stored in the soil. The research conducted by the members of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the University of Cambridge reveals that higher levels of litterfall provide extra carbon which the microorganisms in the soil use as energy. This new abundance of energy then causes the microorganisms to increase their activity levels, leading to a greater degree of stored-carbon decomposition.  

At this point in time, much of the carbon measurements and analysis for tropical forests are based on the growth statistics of the trees. But these recent findings uncover new implications regarding the relationships between plants and soil and their connection to carbon cycling. This new perspective on plant and soil interaction highlights a potential need for change in how we forecast upcoming atmospheric carbon dioxide levels as part of our climate change calculations.

With each new factor that we discover in relation to the planet’s climate, the closer we get to pinpointing specific sources and causes problem areas as well as potential environmental solutions. Such pursuits require a great deal of patience, but our capacity for sustainable living continues to improve as our data collection increases and with each new discovery.