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Thom's blog
Our planet's lungs are dying...
Trees are like our planet's lungs. Every second of every day, they're absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere, and converting it into energy.
In fact, according to a study by researchers at NASA, each year, tropical rainforests absorb a staggering 1.4 billion metric tons of CO2 from Earth's atmosphere.
Through the process of photosynthesis, they're "inhaling" that CO2, and keeping it from further damaging our planet and speeding up the process of climate change.
Photosynthesis is a process used by trees and other plants to convert sunlight into chemical energy that can be used later as fuel. During photosynthesis, plants absorb CO2, which is combined with water - H2O - to produce a mixture of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen called "carbohydrates" - everything from roots to stems to leaves and fruits.
And by absorbing and binding the carbon in carbon dioxide that way, our planet's tropical rainforests are an invaluable line of defense in the fight against global warming and climate change.
But unfortunately, new studies are showing that that defense is weakening.
Our planet's lungs are dying.
For the first time in history, scientists have been able to determine the rate at which trees in the Amazon rainforest can absorb carbon during periods of drought.
Scientists have known for a while that a drought can impact an individual tree's ability to "inhale" carbon, but now, we know just how big that impact is.
-Thom
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