Earth's forests, it turns out, play a dominant role in absorbing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, acting like a giant sponge and soaking up on average about 8.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year, the new study led by the US Forest Service shows — or about one - third of fossil fuel emissions annually during the 1990 - 2007 study period. (csmonitor.com)
forests can cool the planet by absorbing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide during photosynthesis (treehugger.com)