3d ago

Plants losing appetite for carbon dioxide amid effects of warming climate

www.theguardian.com Plants losing appetite for carbon dioxide amid effects of warming climate

Earth’s plants and soils reached peak carbon dioxide sequestration in 2008 but proportion absorbed has been declining since, study finds

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/18853458

The findings are very stark. Emissions now need to fall by 0.3% per year, just to stand still. That’s a tall order since they typically increase by 1.2% per year,”

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3d ago

Plants losing appetite for carbon dioxide amid effects of warming climate

www.theguardian.com /science/2025/feb/26/plants-losing-appetite-for-carbon-dioxide-amid-effects-of-warming-climate

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3d ago

Plants losing appetite for carbon dioxide amid effects of warming climate - Earth’s plants and soils reached peak carbon dioxide sequestration in 2008 but proportion absorbed has been declining si...

www.theguardian.com /science/2025/feb/26/plants-losing-appetite-for-carbon-dioxide-amid-effects-of-warming-climate

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3 comments

Is it just me, or does this feel like one of those "nono, you need to stop and deal with this shit right now" interjections?
- Im.no longer sure it can be dealt with, ? I mean if we stopped emitting tomorrow, maube... but even in some fantsy land if a majorty starting voting Green etc ti change policy direction, then it woukd take decades at 10% a year reduxtion (which is a greater annual emissions reduction every year then we saw during the covid shutdowns) and it seems like too many tipping points will have been crossed ?
  As the article states we need to reduxe emissions 0.3% a year just to stand still and yet we're still increasing emissions!
  This isn't an enginnering or science problem, this is a human behavioural problem.
  
  Honestly, this is my main blocker in all things related to life at this point, I'm starting to get the feeling we're way past the major tipping points and it's all damage control from here onward.
  But I still think we should at least try everything we possibly can. I'm thoroughly a pessimist in terms of convictions, but rationally I have to accept the fact that we barely understand anything about anything.
  I mean, we can even look at the decline itself as an example: everything started accelerating beyond most predictions, which pretty much indicates that we didn't really know the full set of ramifications which came attached to every element of the equation, we're looking at this with flawed understanding. This, to me, also indicates that there's a possibility that we don't much understand the flipside, either, and we haven't even actually tried that route yet. Pessimism in thought, optimism in action.
  Edit: and, yeah, I agree with you, this will be down to a paradigm shift in the very way we value and interact with our environment, and the kind of people we are now (speaking in terms of averages, not individuals) would be incapable of sustaining the necessary changes.