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Plants do a great job pulling out CO₂ -- that's why CO₂ levels fall in the northern hemisphere's spring and early summer (see https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/
by MarkusQ 4y ago
Plants do a great job pulling out CO₂ -- that's why CO₂ levels fall in the northern hemisphere's spring and early summer (see https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/ https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/ ).
Unfortunately, insects and fungi are just as good at eating plant matter and exhaling the CO₂ back again (aided somewhat by fires) so it goes right back in to the air again.
- entropicgravity 4y agoYes my understanding is that before there were fungi that could deal with the fallen trees they just stacked up on the ground and eventually became coal while the earth turned into snowball earth for a few million years. Sucking up CO2 has been too much of a good thing under some past circumstances.
- zdragnar 4y agoPlants also respirate C02 when they use the sugars they generate from photosynthesis. It's why you can grow plants in a completely sealed terrarium. Some do better than others- they generally don't prefer a perfect balance, but they can survive in it.