As global carbon dioxide levels climb, plants are becoming better at photosynthesis

A recent study shows that increased carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere is leading to higher rates of photosynthesis in vegetation. “There’s more photosynthesis going on than in the past and there’s more biomass,” the study’s lead author, Ralph Keeling, told the Washington Post. Keeling is a professor of geochemistry at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and program director of the Scripps CO2 Program.

“The accumulation of biomass is important, because it’s carbon that otherwise would have been in the air that got taken out and is slowing down the growth rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide,” Keeling says. Read more.