How does rising atmospheric CO2 affect marine organisms?

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CO2 Emissions from Soil
Reference
Liski, J., Ilvesniemi, H., Makela, A. and Westman, C.J.  1999.  CO2 emissions from soil in response to climatic warming are overestimated - The decomposition of old soil organic matter is tolerant of temperature.  Ambio 28: 171-174.

What was done
The authors measured soil carbon (C) storage along a temperature gradient across the boreal forest zone in Finland.

What was learned
Carbon storage in soils of both high- and low-productivity forests increased with temperature.

What it means
The storage of carbon in soil is typically assumed to decrease with global warming, thus exacerbating the rise in atmospheric CO2 that is predicted to drive the warming.  The real-world data obtained in this study contradict this assumption and prediction.  In the words of the authors, "our data for boreal forest soil even suggest an increase in the C storage capacity in those soils in response to climatic warming," which would be expected to "retard the increase in the atmospheric CO2 concentration" and thereby slow the rate of global warming.


Reviewed 15 August 1999