Trees Get Bigger Around the World Thanks to Higher CO2 Levels

Little wonder when they evolved to thrive in CO2 levels three times higher than today

Recent scientific investigation, curiously missing from constant mainstream media reports of ecological Armageddon, confirms that trees are getting larger around the world due to higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide fertilisation. A little extra of the gas of life, nature’s bountiful plant food, has led to bigger trees and more leaf growth over the last few decades. The recent small recovery in the near-denuded level of CO₂ that was a threat to plant and human life on Earth has led to an astonishing 15%-plus increase in overall global vegetation growth in the last 40 years. Plants including trees have evolved to thrive in levels of atmospheric CO₂ about three times higher than the current 420 parts per million (ppm) and scientific evidence is clearly showing rising levels are leading to faster growth in flora that is both healthier and more resistant to nature’s hazards such as drought.

Fascinating results are starting to emerge from a controlled Free-Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment (FACE) experiment conducted since 2017 by the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research. This involved increasing CO₂ levels to 550 ppm across patches of a 180-year old Oak forest in Staffordshire, England. When compared to controlled plots without the CO₂ boost, it was found that oaks fed with the extra plant food showed growth rates that were an astonishing 10% higher in the period 2017-2023. Most of the growth is attributed to wood production. Compared to trees making do with the current 420 ppm, the boosted oaks are estimated to have produced an additional 1.7 tonnes of dry matter per hectare per year.

Early results also show that mature oak trees increased their photosynthesis rate by up to 33% due to the elevated CO₂ levels, particularly in strong sunlight. Capture of CO₂ by wood rather than leaves means the sequestration will be longer lasting. The carbon-nitrogen ratio in leaves remained stable and this suggests the trees adapt easily by redirecting nutrients or absorbing more nitrogen from the soil. Of course these results illustrate that sequestration of CO₂ is a natural process and it has been ongoing for at least 600 million years. Much higher levels of CO₂, for which there is no evidence of a causal link with runaway temperatures, have been gradually reduced with a recent low point of 280 ppm in the pre-industrial age, skirting with ecological disaster at the dead-planet level of around 150 ppm.

FACE experiments are not new and have been used to assess CO₂ growth rates in trees in a number of locations. A long-term project in the Duke pine forest in Orange County, North Carolina found higher annual growth of 27% when trees were fumigated with another 200 ppm dose of CO₂. In this case, photosynthetic rates by canopy foliage increased by up to 50% while the actual size of the trees, or the basal area increment, was stimulated by between 13-27%.

It seems that wherever you look, gluttonous trees around the world have been bulking up on CO₂ at both existing levels and those set in experiments. A recent article published by a group of researchers working out of Ohio State University found that over the last 50 years in 10 forest groups, all types except Aspen Birch increased their per-hectare volume. Between 1970 and 2015, trees produced a 20-30% increase in biomass compared to trees from 30 years prior. The study suggested that all those porky pines and poplars were sequestering about 700-800 million tons of CO₂ a year in the US, equivalent to roughly 10-13% of the country’s total CO₂ emissions.

If running scared of CO₂ is your political thing, this news should be most welcome. Tree planting is all the virtuous rage to justify elite ‘business-as-usual’ lifestyles, but the heavy and natural greening of the planet is not generally mentioned in polite mainstream society. Carbon dioxide is seen as a ‘devil gas’ and the need to promote the Net Zero fantasy leads to an odd and skewed understanding of its benefits. In the UK, this has led to the Mad Miliband setting up a ridiculous scheme to 'capture' pitiful amounts of CO₂ and lock it up for ever more at a cost of £22 billion.

At least regular readers of the Daily Sceptic are not remaining uninformed about the staggering amounts of vegetation growth and de-desertification that is occurring as CO₂ levels show a small recovery from the near-death experience in recent historical times. Recently, two scientists in Spain found a “striking” growth in global greening. A significant portion of Earth’s terrestrial land surface was said to show a measurable increase in vegetation cover over the last four decades. Meanwhile, crop yields have soared in the last 60 years helped by hydrocarbon-produced fertiliser and increased CO_2, while deserts are reducing in places such as the southern Sahara. While kids in the Western world are sent to bed crying with their brainwashed heads full of Attenborough-style agitprop, at least many children in less developed parts of the world have slightly fuller bellies.

Chris Morrison is the Daily Sceptic’s Environment Editor. Follow him on X.