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Scientists Surprised to Find Earth's Biosphere Booming

Posted by timothy on from the but-there's-also-the-slow-hiss-in-the-background dept.

radioweather writes "An article from the Financial Post says that recent studies of biosphere imaging from the NASA SEAWIFS satellite indicate that the Earth's biomass is booming: 'The results surprised Steven Running of the University of Montana and Ramakrishna Nemani of NASA, scientists involved in analyzing the NASA satellite data. They found that over a period of almost two decades, the Earth as a whole became more bountiful by a whopping 6.2%. About 25% of the Earth's vegetated landmass — almost 110 million square kilometers — enjoyed significant increases and only 7% showed significant declines. When the satellite data zooms in, it finds that each square meter of land, on average, now produces almost 500 grams of greenery per year.' Their 2004 study, and other more recent ones, point to the warming of the planet and the presence of CO2, fertilizing the biota and resulting in the increased green side effect."

4 of 692 comments (clear)

  1. great by ionix5891 · · Score: 0, Troll

    another excuse for Bush and Co. to use

    "Look were making the planet greener by fertilizing it with CO2!"

    1. Re:great by LS · · Score: 0, Troll

      A living planet needs carbon. Ours was almost dead until we started releasing the carbon back into the ecosystem.

      What a bunch of nonsense! Or planet is no where near dead. What do you constitute as the distinction between dead and alive?

      Perhaps this "desert-like" planet is precisely what is needed for advanced human civilization to survive. Pumping more carbon into the atmosphere might make our planet more lush and green, but it may very well no longer be suitable for advanced civilization.

      Quit coming up with bullshit non-scientific arguments to justify your greedy status-quo energy wasting lifestyle.

      --
      There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
  2. Re:The cycle.... by celle · · Score: 0, Troll

    And for the good of the universe I hope one of those extinctions is us. It's not like we won't deserve it either.

  3. Think harder. by daemonburrito · · Score: 0, Troll

    This is an article in a financial rag. It is meant as a PR piece for the tactic of suggesting that since CO2 is required for the processes of life, then governments have no right to regulate its release into the atmosphere. I'm surprised by how much traction this specious argument gets from otherwise logical /.ers.

    And while I haven't read the original paper, I suspect that the authors did not come to the conclusion that CO2 emissions must not be reduced, which is absurd on its face.

    Can any of you really accept the premise that regulating technological release of CO2 (i.e., releases above and beyond what we exhale) would endanger life on earth? That we must not interfere with coal plants and suv's, lest we harm the planet?

    Seriously?