Trees stop making food for themselves when they get too hot, a new study shows.
AdvertisementAdvertisementFor a new Nature study, scientists across the country found that photosynthesis begins to fail in tropical trees at 116 degrees Fahrenheit (46.7 degrees Celsius).
NNehring/ Getty ImagesScientists already knew extreme heat makes leaves unable to photosynthesize, said Goldsmith, a co-author of the study.
But "this study is really the first study to establish how close tropical forest canopies may be to these limits," he said.
If all the trees in the tropical rainforests died off, that would release an estimated 228.7 petagrams of carbon into the atmosphere, according to a 2012 study.
Persons:
It's, Gregory Goldsmith, Goldsmith, ScienceAlert, Justin Sullivan, Christopher Doughty, Doughty, Ignacio Palacios, it's
Organizations:
Service, Chapman University, Getty, Northern Arizona University
Locations:
—, Brazil , Puerto Rico, Panama, Australia, San Francisco