As previously mentioned….if most climatologists are correct, then parts of the Earth’s surface may experience increasing episodes of heat and drought as a result of global “weirding”. (see here for a current example) Some of the effects of heat on photosynthesis was considered in part 1 of this post. But what about drought (a.k.a., long [...]
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Posted in CO2, Photosynthesis, Plant Stress on Feb 12th, 2009
If most climatologists are correct, then parts of the Earth’s surface may experience increasing episodes of heat and drought as a result of global “weirding”. (see here for a current example) In a previous post in this blog, I briefly introduced the complex subject of how increasing atmospheric CO2 may affect plant photosynthesis. There is [...]
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Devil-may-care and out-of-control plants. A couple of reports in the science news this week seem to suggest that one way to cope with global climate change may be unbridled plant growth. One has to do with the discovery of a cellular regulator for the synthesis of cellulose by plant cells. The other involves plants’ natural [...]
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Can humans measure photosynthesis on a global scale? Since plants consume CO2 during photosynthesis, one way is to measure the relative amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) using satellites (click on photo at left for more info). But plants also release CO2 as a product of respiration. This has confounded efforts to accurately measure photosynthesis [...]
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Posted in Plant Cell Walls on Nov 2nd, 2008
Remember the melting witch in The Wizard of Oz? What if corn stalks, for instance, could be induced to “melt” from tough biomass into a sugary puddle? That is, to breakdown their cellulosic biomass into a solution of glucose and other sugars. If so, it would be much more cost effective to use corn biomass [...]
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Posted in Plant Stress on Oct 18th, 2008
Are plants likely to be more heat stressed in the future? The levels of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) are increasing in Earth’s atmosphere. This, most climate scientists agree, is resulting in global warming. Among the environmental effects of global warming are higher frequencies of extreme heat-waves. Unusually high temperatures, especially [...]
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