carbon dioxide levels

A workable way of reducing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere by adding lime, found in limestone, to seawater has the potential to dramatically reverse CO2 accumulation.

Adding lime to seawater increases alkalinity, boosting seawater's ability to absorb CO2 from air and reducing the tendency to release it back again.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are rising at an alarming rate, and new research indicates that soybean plant defenses go down as carbon dioxide goes up.

Elevated carbon dioxide impairs a key component of the plant's defenses against leaf-eating insects, according to a new article.

A recent study created a bit of a mystery for soil scientists -- increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was expected to increase plant growth, increase plant biomass and ultimately beef up the organic matter in the soil -- but it didn't.

What researchers found instead was that organic matter decay increased along with residue inputs when carbon dioxide levels were increased and they think the accelerated decay was due to increased moisture in the soil.

Rising carbon dioxide levels from burning fossil fuels have been linked to sea level changes, snowmelt, disease, heat stress, severe weather, and ocean acidification.

Yet because it does not affect respiration directly, carbon dioxide is not considered a classic air pollutant.

Noting that increasing levels of carbon dioxide cause temperature and water vapor content to rise, researchers analyzed how this could harm lung function and irritate the respiratory system.

They found that each one degree Celsius rise in temperature may increase U.S. annual air pollution deaths by about 1000.

Damage to plants from a freeze that occurred across much of the Eastern United States in April 2007 was made worse because it had been preceded by two weeks of unusual warmth.

More freeze and thaw fluctuations are possible in future winters as a result of global warming, and rising carbon dioxide levels increase the susceptibility of some plants.

The 2007 event could be a scenario for an effect of future climate change.

Topics include: imaging of impact strata on Mars' Holden Crater; Eocene-Oligocene conditions leading to the freezing of Antarctica; evidence that liquid water is not responsible for recent changes observed in Martian gullies; new insights into Cretaceous early Albian greenhouse conditions and implications for future atmospheric carbon dioxide levels; new estimates of Earth's copper supply; discovery of large nitrate pools under the Mojave's desert pavement; frequency of magnitude 9 earthquakes; and the pre-Grand Canyon Colorado River.