Earth is protecting humanity by soaking up C02

Published on 02/08/2012 00:00

The Earth is protecting humanity from the full effects of global warming by soaking up carbon dioxide, research has shown.

Once the forests and oceans become saturated, as scientists predict, the impact of greenhouse gas emissions is expected to double. But no-one yet knows when this time will come.

Researchers in the US studied global CO2 emissions over the past 50 years and compared them with rising levels in the atmosphere. They found that while emissions had quadrupled, natural carbon “sinks” that capture the greenhouse gas had doubled their uptake. This had eased the impact of man-made CO2 emissions on the climate.

“The Earth continues to do the heavy lifting by taking up huge amounts of CO2,” said lead researcher Dr Ashley Ballantyne, of the University of Colorado. “How long this will continue, we don’t know.”