All carbon dioxide articles
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NewsLess UV light may mean less carbon storage in Antarctic tundra
As the ozone layer heals, less ultraviolet radiation reaches the Antarctic surface—a change usually viewed as beneficial for living organisms. But researchers have found that reduced ultraviolet radiation can substantially weaken the ability of Antarctic tundra to absorb carbon dioxide.
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NewsAdding iron to the ocean can remove CO2 – but at what cost to nature?
Adding iron to the ocean can cause plankton to absorb more CO2 from the atmosphere. However, the effect depends on where in the world the method is used, and it can have far-reaching consequences for marine ecosystems and food chains.
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NewsTrees and microbes team up to improve nitrogen nutrient processes in future CO2 conditions
Researchers studying how a 180-year-old oak woodland responded after exposure to the CO₂ levels expected in the future discover that microbes “mine” soil nutrients, supplying 30% more available nitrogen to help trees sustain carbon capture.
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NewsEU project aims to make climate-neutral plastics and cosmetics using bacteria
A European research team is aiming to revolutionize the chemical industry: as part of the CarboNcare project, scientists are developing bacteria that can produce important chemical base materials from sustainable methanol – thereby replacing fossil resources.
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NewsNew reactor design produces renewable methane from carbon dioxide
A new reactor design efficiently converts carbon dioxide and renewable electricity into methane while scaling the system up by roughly an order of magnitude. It demonstrated that microbial electrosynthesis systems can be expanded beyond laboratory-scale devices while maintaining high energy efficiency and methane production rates.
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NewsMembrane complex aids rock-eating microbes in converting carbon dioxide to biomass
So-called rock-eating microorganisms obtain their energy to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) from inorganic sources. Using electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy, researchers investigated the structure of DAB2 in the sulfur bacterium Halothiobacillus neapolitanus.
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NewsTibet’s thawing lakes accelerate greenhouse gas release
Lakes on the Tibetan Plateau are undergoing a dramatic transformation; once stable carbon sinks, they are rapidly becoming significant sources of greenhouse gases due to climate warming.
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NewsScientists solve 66 million-year-old mystery of how Earth’s greenhouse age ended
Experts studying foraminifera fossils have discovered that concentrations of calcium in the sea dropped by more than half across the last 66 million years, which likely caused Earth’s massive drop in temperature.
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NewsUnderwater thermal vents may have given rise to the first molecular precursors of life
A new study shows that, without the presence of enzymes, natural gradients of pH, redox potential, and temperature present in underwater hydrothermal vents could have promoted the reduction of carbon dioxide to formic acid and the subsequent formation of acetic acid.
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NewsArtificial ocean carbon recycling system converts seawater CO2 into valuable chemicals
Researchers have developed an artificial ocean carbon recycling system that captures CO2 from seawater and uses microbes to directly convert it into succinic acid.
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NewsDesert soils emit greenhouse gases in minutes — even without live microbes
A groundbreaking study reveals that desert soils can emit powerful greenhouse gases within minutes of being wetted—even in the absence of microbial life. It challenges long-standing assumptions that soil microbes are solely responsible for post-rain “pulse emissions” of gases like carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrous oxide (N₂O), and nitric oxide (NO).
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NewsForest trees and microbes choreograph their hunt for a ‘balanced diet’ under elevated CO2
Oak trees change their fine roots and ‘energise’ soil microbes by supplying them with a cocktail of small organic compounds, all to supplement the trees’ supply of essential nutrients when exposed to higher levels of carbon dioxide.
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NewsDrying and rewetting cycles substantially increase soil CO2 release
A study of forest and pastureland soils in Japan revealed that the amount of CO2 released from soil increases significantly due to the repeated drying and rewetting cycles (DWCs) expected to be caused by changes in precipitation patterns due to global warming.
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NewsMicrobe dietary preferences influence the effectiveness of carbon sequestration in the deep ocean
The movement of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the surface of the ocean to the deep ocean depends on a number of seemingly small processes - including the dietary preferences of bacteria that feed on organic molecules called lipids.
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NewsSoil bacteria respire more CO2 after sugar-free meals
Researchers have tracked the pathways of a mixture of plant waste as it moves through bacteria’s metabolism to contribute to atmospheric CO2. Microbes respire three times as much CO2 from lignin carbons compared to cellulose carbons, they say.