Plants May Need Less Water as Climate Change Worsens
Researchers say rising carbon dioxide levels will make plants less thirsty, resulting in a drastic reduction of climate change-induced droughts.
In a study led by the University of Washington, researchers presented findings of how reduced water requirements for nourishing plants could cut these global warming-based drought conditions by up to 50 percent.
Their work will be published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an academic journal.
The team explains that such an adjustment is largely overlooked in existing climate change models, which in turn present a grimmer projection than may actually be the case.
Ollivier Girard/CIFOR