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By Aayushi Sharma
CLAIM – CO2 is benefiting the environment by making Earth greener.
FACT – Misleading. Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can be suitable for some plants, but it is also the leading cause of climate change.
Claim Post:
WHAT DOES THE CLAIM SAY
A Twitter post dated April 1, 2023, by user @climatecraze encourages people to add more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It has shared a NASA article showing the greening effect of carbon dioxide on the planet. The post, while sharing a world map (with a greening effect), has a caption, “And I want to thank all those who help make the entire planet more green by adding more CO2 to our atmosphere. CO2 is the natural green accelerator. I love CO2 and #ClimateScam should too.”
WHAT WE FOUND
The post is misleading and dangerous as it encourages people to emit more carbon dioxide which would actually accelerate climate change. The NASA article, which is shared in the Twitter post, talks about carbon dioxide fertilization and the greening effect. It does not encourage people to emit more carbon dioxide.
What does ‘the greening effect’ mean?
During photosynthesis, green leaves use energy from sunlight to combine it with carbon dioxide taken from the atmosphere, along with water and nutrients taken up from the ground to produce sugar. It is the primary source of food, fiber, and fuel for life on Earth. According to studies, higher carbon dioxide levels promote photosynthesis, which in turn promotes plant development.
Nevertheless, nitrogen, altered land cover, and climatic factors such as variations in global temperature, precipitation, and sunlight all contribute to the greening effect. Carbon dioxide fertilization is not the sole factor that promotes more significant plant growth. Researchers ran the data for carbon dioxide and each of the other variables separately through numerous computer models that mimicked the plant development seen in the field to evaluate the magnitude of carbon dioxide’s influence.
Factorial simulations using various global ecosystem models indicate that CO2 fertilization effects account for 70% of the observed greening trend. This is followed by nitrogen deposition (9%), climate change (8%), and land cover change (LCC) (4%).
What is CO2 fertilization? How does it contribute to greening?
Global photosynthesis increases with elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations, a response that is known as the CO2 fertilization effect (CFE). Although reducing leaf transpiration, the CO2 fertilization effect or carbon fertilization effect speeds up photosynthesis in plants. Increased quantities of atmospheric carbon dioxide cause both processes (CO2). Certain studies have reported that, During the early 1980s, Earth’s vegetated areas have significantly greened up, primarily due to increased atmospheric CO2 levels. In addition, terrestrial ecosystems have lowered atmospheric CO2 levels and partially offset the consequences of climate change.
Vegetation covers over 85% of the ice-free area on Earth. All of the green vegetation on Earth covers, on average, 32% of the planet’s total surface area, including the oceans, lands, and permanent ice sheets. The degree of environmental improvement during the past 35 years has the potential to radically alter the water and carbon cycling in the climate system.
What are the concerns?
Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can be suitable for plants, but they are also the leading cause of climate change. Due to the burning of oil, gas, coal, and wood for energy, the gas that traps heat in the Earth’s atmosphere has been rising since the industrial age and is continuing to reach quantities not seen in at least 500,000 years. Global warming, increasing sea levels, the melting of glaciers and sea ice, and more extreme weather occurrences are all effects of climate change.
More carbon dioxide may reduce the nutritional value of plants: Plants grown in excess carbon dioxide frequently have lower levels of nutrients, including nitrogen, copper, and potassium. Carbon dioxide may speed up soil microbial nutrient uptake in a similar way as it speeds up photosynthesis, leaving less available for plants to absorb through their roots. Certain food crops may have a 3 to 17% drop in their protein, iron, and zinc levels. This is the anticipated outcome of food produced in accordance with atmospheric carbon dioxide levels in 2050.
Although carbon dioxide is removed from the air by photosynthesis, a large portion of the gas is immediately released back into the environment. This is because chemical reactions in plants virtually reverse at night. Plants push carbon dioxide out through a process known as respiration as opposed to taking it in.
According to a Scientist and Professor Peñuelas, “These unprecedented results indicate that the absorption of carbon by vegetation is beginning to become saturated. This has very important climate implications that must be taken into account in possible climate change mitigation strategies and policies at the global level”.
CFC, in a fact-check done earlier, had debunked a similar claim and concluded that “CO2 itself is not a problem and is a part of the natural ecosystem but the problem is with the rising levels of CO2. Plants do need CO2 to live but rapid deforestation and rising CO2 levels is creating an imbalance with large amounts of residue CO2 in the atmosphere not being absorbed by plants, which is leading to global warming and climate change.”
According to another CFC article, not all plant species react similarly to an increase in atmospheric CO2 levels. In general, there are two types of plant species such as C3 and C4. Cowpeas, cassava, soybean, and rice are some examples of C3 plants, whereas plants like maize and sorghum are known as C4 plants. C3 plants are heavily constrained by atmospheric CO2 levels and are thus expected to display a more substantial carbon fertilization effect.
If you have any queries or come across suspicious content related to climate change or the environment and want us to verify them for you, do share them with us on Climate Buddy, our WhatsApp tipline number: +917045366366
References:
- https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/carbon-dioxide-fertilization-greening-earth
- https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate3004
- https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab79e5
- https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2115627119
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00382-018-4388-8
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.14561
- https://www.earth.com/news/the-greening-effects-of-co2-emissions-are-reaching-their-limit/
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-33196-x
- https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/30/science/climate-change-plants-global-greening.html
