A new study says deserts can help stop global warming.
Arid regions are one of the largest ecosystems on Earth, according to MSN News. Researchers have discovered that these areas can absorb surprisingly large amounts of carbon.
Deserts are expected to take in more carbon dioxide (CO2) and lower its effect as the levels of the greenhouse rise in the atmosphere.
The study was led by Professor Dave Evans, biologist and specialist in ecology and global change at Washington State University. The researchers said the discovery helps them better understand the carbon cycle and the future of Earth's change in climate, NBC News reported.
"It is definitely not going to stop it ... just now we are understanding the processes that are going on," Evans said. "But we are still seeing huge amounts of carbon accumulating in the atmosphere."
CO2 has the greatest impact in the increase of global climate change out of all greenhouse gases. The burning of fossil fuels is leading to more CO2 being released into the atmosphere. While some of the greenhouse gas stays in the atmosphere, the rest is stored in the land and oceans in forms that contain carbon such as plants, animals and microbes.
The study was published in the journal Nature Climate Change, MSN News reported. Increasing CO2 was found to increase activity in the rhizophere, an area around plant roots containing a great amount of microbes, which then led to a larger intake of carbon.
The scientists found that deserts could absorb enough carbon to make up between four and eight percent of emissions today.
"I was surprised at the magnitude of the carbon gain, that we were able to detect it after 10 years, because 10 years isn't very long in the life of an ecosystem," Evans said.
Data shows that desert ecosystems could increase their intake of carbon in the future to represent 15 to 28 percent of carbon that is now being absorbed by land surfaces, NBC News reported.
The growth of global population brings concern to the future of arid areas, MSN News reported.
"Land is extremely valuable," Evans said. "A lot of growth may occur in these areas that are fairly arid and we don't know what that's going to do then to the carbon budget of these systems."
