A professor's study in Utah University said that drought in forests sets back the growth of the trees making it store less carbon dioxide than expected on climate models. The minimal carbon dioxide absorption, according to the study, will speed up climate change.
According to the article on the University of Utah's official news website, William R. L. Anderegg is an assistant professor of biology in the university. He worked on the study when he was still at Princeton University. The study was reported on July 31 in the journal Science.
According to Reuters, the result of the study showed that it will take at least two to four years for trees affected by drought to recover its normal growth rate and to store enough carbon dioxide. The site posted that over a century, an extra of 1.6 million gigatonnes of carbon dioxide enters the athmosphere because of the lessened capacity of forests to abosrb carbon dioxide.
The study also shows that the growth rate of the trees is 9 percent slower on the first year after the drought. It is 5 percent slower on the second year.
The university's website cited Anderegg and Colleagues systematically measured the recovery of the tree stem growth after droughts. The researchers used the data from the International Tree Ring Data Bank. The data involved 1,300 forest sites around the world since 1948.
The website also listed the researchers' scientific comment on the effect of drought. According to the researchers, the loss of plants and carbohydrate reserve during drought weakens growth the following years. They added that drought affected areas will gather pests and diseases and it will damage the area's water system.