Secret Fig Trees That Turn Carbon Dioxide Into Stone Could Change Climate Science Forever
Ever wonder if your backyard fig tree could double as an eco-friendly rock factory? Yeah, me neither—until now. It turns out, some African fig trees aren’t just content producing fruit; they’re busy turning carbon dioxide into calcium carbonate—basically growing little “rocks” right in their bark and wood. Talk about multitasking! This quirky natural trick isn’t just a botanical oddity; it’s caught the eye of researchers aiming to slow down climate change, one limestone deposit at a time. And here’s the kicker — these fig trees store carbon in a way that sticks around longer than your usual leafy stuff, meaning they might just be the green warriors we didn’t know we needed in the fight against global warming. Intrigued? Yeah, me too. LEARN MORE
Calcium carbonate deposits produced by African fig trees could provide a sustainable method of slowing climate change.
Mike RowleyA fig tree in Africa that produces “rocks” of calcium carbonate in the soil.
Elementary school science teaches that trees produce the oxygen we breathe, and we, in turn, exhale carbon dioxide for trees to absorb. That isn’t where the process ends, though.
Some trees can convert that extra carbon dioxide to limestone in their trunks — and researchers have now identified three species of fig trees native to Kenya that are some of the first fruit trees shown to have this ability. Now, researchers are hopeful that this discovery could help slow climate change.
Carbon Rocks Grown By Fig Trees Could Be A Boon For Agroforestry
“We’ve known about the oxalate carbonate pathway for some time, but its potential for sequestering carbon hasn’t been fully considered,” Dr. Mike Rowley, a senior lecturer at the University of Zurich, said in a news release.
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