A modeling study suggests that the decrease in the carbon isotopic ratio (13C/12C) of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) over the past few decades has been slower than that predicted based on fossil-fuel derived CO2 emissions, suggesting a shift in plant leaf traits in response to increased atmospheric CO2 that reflects increased efficiency of water use by plants relative to the past.
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Article #16-19240: "Atmospheric evidence for a global secular increase in carbon isotopic discrimination of land photosynthesis," by Ralph F. Keeling et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Ralph F. Keeling, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA; tel: 858-534-7582; e-mail: <rkeeling@ucsd.edu>
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences