Climate change research at the University of Gießen: thickness of air like in the year 2050

Christoph Müller looks out from the porch of the fenced wooden hut on a unique terrain. It is located in a floodplain between a village and the adjacent forest. The Area searches for his words, for several reasons, be the same: "This area is for people to have a Lawn to commemorate," says Müller. "Here, the natural Ecosystem is, so to speak, in the balance, and the world almost never." In the decades of built-up ratio of plants, bacteria and fungi in the soil, carbon dioxide is the only factor of disturbance.

Thorsten Winter

business editor and Internet coordinator of the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

the man with The victory of the Patriotic tongue knows what he is talking about, with a view to the property in the upper Hessian town of Linden. He teaches and conducts research but, as a Professor at the Institute for plant ecology, University of the middle casting and supported with colleagues in the Area since 1998, ongoing project on climate change. The experiments are called Face, which stands for "Free Air CO2 Enrichment". In short, get there, plant more carbon dioxide than the air currently offers. What this has to follow, want to study the researchers. This is for example for agriculture is important.

More plant growth, less milk

Similarly, long-running Experiments of this kind, there is, according to Müller, only in new Zealand and in the United States. The outdoor research 60 kilometers North of Frankfurt was different than comparable long-term studies have been to date, without a break out. "Generally, these projects run for ten years, then the lenders think that it should be all measured, what is there to measure." The Face experiments of Linden, however, are now secured until 2030. The state office for nature, environment and Geology and the Giessen University have extended their cooperation. This Müller and his colleagues find, is a good one, because the Ecology of the periods is oriented in neither the legislature, nor Funding, he says.

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And what he and his staff do on a daily basis? "We give a carbon dioxide concentration that we expect for the year 2050," explains the expert. The plants will receive the Gas over the curved pipes on the site, the oversize taps are similar to and in a circle are arranged. Three of such rings are on the Site, and three more with natural air, which serve to control. The Overdose of CO2 is, according to Müller, an increase of a fifth. "The take up of the plants, of course." The Green needs the Gas for photosynthesis. Plants convert water, carbon dioxide and light energy into glucose and oxygen. With the addition of carbon dioxide plants grow to 15 percent stronger. This increase in biomass is enormous, says the Professor.

This sounds encouraging. But: "If we change one factor, then other factors change," explains Müller. With views of green fodder for cows is about the consequences are unpleasant. Stronger growth leads to a decrease of the protein content in the plants because the Green absorbs relatively less nitrogen as a building block of protein than usual, as the Professor explained. Thus, a cow will give less milk. As a consequence, a cow would have to eat his words, for a larger amount of milk more. This would be for the climate and the people and animals not good at all. Because cows burp the climate killer methane.

drought threatens the existence of farmers

Also under the sod more carbon dioxide changed a bit: "The microbes become more active." Result: they give increased carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. The adoption of the researchers, the plants way to take the microbes in the nitrogen proportion, which is why the nitrous oxide emissions declining, has not proved to be true to Miller's words. Rather, the opposite applies.