Science
Trees have an extra climate benefit thanks to methane-eating microbes
Microbes living in the bark of trees are absorbing methane from the air, making trees about 10 per cent better for the climate than previously thought.
Methane is a greenhouse gas that is responsible for about a quarter of human-caused global warming.
Scientists have already shown that some trees growing in water-logged soils can emit methane that was generated underground. But the presence of methane-eating microbes known as methanotrophs in tree bark suggests trees could also be a net sink for atmospheric methane.
Methanotrophs consume methane…
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