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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Tropical Punch"
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CLEARING THE AIR; TREES DOING THEIR SHARE... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. TREES ARE ONE OF EARTH'S AIR FRESHENERS--NO, NOT THE KIND THAT HANG FROM YOUR REARVIEW MIRROR. REAL FORESTS PROVIDE OXYGEN, AND THEY ABSORB CARBON DIOXIDE--ONE OF THE "GREENHOUSE GASES" INVOLVED IN GLOBAL WARMING. THANKS, TREES. BUT, DO ALL FORESTS CONTRIBUTE EQUALLY? SCIENTISTS AT THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH HAVE, FOR THE FIRST TIME, USED SAMPLES OF AIR COLLECTED BY AIRCRAFT AROUND THE WORLD TO MAP HOW MUCH CARBON DIOXIDE IS BEING ABSORBED AT DIFFERENT PLACES ON THE GLOBE. WHAT THEY FOUND IS IMPORTANT--AND UNEXPECTED--BECAUSE IT'S COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT COMPUTER MODELS HAD PREVIOUSLY ESTIMATED. IT TURNS OUT THAT FORESTS IN TROPICAL REGIONS CLEAR FAR MORE "C-O-TWO" FROM THE AIR, THAN FORESTS AT NORTHERN LATITUDES. THE EARLIER COMPUTER MODELS RELIED MOSTLY ON GROUND-LEVEL MEASUREMENTS. USING AIRBORNE SAMPLES HAS GIVEN US A MUCH-CLEARER PICTURE--AND WILL HELP SCIENTISTS BETTER MODEL CLIMATE-CHANGE, AND FIND WAYS TO EASE IT. IT MAY NOT BE GOING OUT ON A LIMB TO SAY THAT THIS NEW RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE OF TROPICAL RAINFORESTS TO THE HEALTH OF OUR PLANET, BY GIVING "C-O-TWO" A REAL TROPICAL "PUNCH". THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
