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Trees' CO2 intake 'may affect climate'

05 January 2008

Global warming may be exacerbated by the inability of trees to continue absorbing manmade carbon dioxide, research has revealed.

Data collected over 20 years has suggested that trees are absorbing less carbon dioxide. Trees absorb and store carbon, meaning that if they are less able to do so, the earth's climate would be affected as more carbon is released into the atmosphere.

Commenting on the research, John Miller of the University of Colorado wrote in the Nature journal: "We are currently getting a 50 per cent discount on the climatic impact of our fossil fuel emissions."

"Unfortunately, we have no guarantee that the 50% discount will continue and if it disappears we will feel the full climatic brunt of our unrelenting emission of CO2 from fossil fuels.

Climate change is the biggest environmental problem the world faces, as climate change will affect weather patterns and sea levels, meaning there may be an increase in natural disasters, according to the Department for Food and Rural Affairs.

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