News Climate

Tranquil ecosystems may explain wild swings in carbon dioxide stashing

Semiarid ecosystems account for large variation in annual greenhouse gas absorption

carbon sink

UP IN THE AIR  Semiarid regions, like this area in Central Australia, may be responsible for the wild variations in the amount of CO2 left free in the atmosphere to warm the planet.

Luciana Porfirio 

By Beth Mole

- More than 2 years ago

Placid prairies and austere scrublands may be key ecosystems for explaining mysterious year-to-year swings in the amount of carbon dioxide sucked out of the atmosphere.