According to a recent study, tree bark in the world’s forests absorbs the greenhouse gas methane.
- It is a discovery that could have big implications for tackling climate change.
- As trees photosynthesise, their leaves take up carbon dioxide (CO₂) and lock it away as biomass in their trunks and branches providing a long-term store of carbon.
- But now, the new large-scale study proves that there’s another way that trees absorb greenhouse gases – so forests can provide even more climate benefits than previously thought.
- Wetlands are known to be the primary natural source of methane – trees in swamps and floodplains can emit methane from the lower portions of their trunks.
- As per researchers, trees, and some do emit a small amount from their trunk base. But the surprise happened when they measured higher up the trunks: trees were taking up methane from the atmosphere and this methane removal grew stronger the higher up we went, with methane removal from the atmosphere dominating overall exchange.
- The researchers estimate that trees take up between about 25 and 50 million tonnes of atmospheric methane each year, with most taken up by tropical forests.
