A Sobering Study on the Carbon Cycle

MADELINE BODIN

RESEARCH Plants are important carbon sinks, and research into absorption rates for carbon emissions is an important aspect of devising appropriate climate solutions. But there is limited data on how long plants hold on to carbon before it is released. To build a more comprehensive estimate, Heather Graven, a professor of climate physics at Imperial College London, and a team used global measurements of carbon-14 (a radioactive variety of the carbon molecule) in the atmosphere and oceans that were taken during a four-year break in nuclear bomb testing in the 1960s. More carbon disappeared than expected, but it returned to the atmosphere more quickly, too. Based on matching mathematical models to the findings, Graven’s team hypothesized that more carbon is being taken up by nonwoody plants, and the nonwoody parts…

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Landscape Architecture (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 2025

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