Tropical Forests Trump Northern Counterparts in Soaking Up Bad Carbon Dioxide, NASA

Tropical forests are removing more carbon dioxide than previously thought, a new NASA study claims.

According to the study which was published in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, tropical forests absorb 1.4 billion metric tons of the 2.5 billion tons absorbed globally, every year. This number has been found to be higher than northern forests including Boreal Forests, contrary to existing notions. Earth's forests remove carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and also store some of it. The green cover absorbs 30 percent of human emissions, Discovery News reported.

"Until our analysis, no one had successfully completed a global reconciliation of information about carbon dioxide effects from the atmospheric, forestry and modeling communities," said co-author Joshua Fisher of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a news release.

"The question of which type of forest is the bigger carbon absorber "is not just an accounting curiosity. It has big implications for our understanding of whether global terrestrial ecosystems might continue to offset our carbon dioxide emissions or might begin to exacerbate climate change," said co-author Britton Stephens.

The study's lead author David Schimel termed their findings as 'good news' as he said the uptake of Boreal forests is slowing and hence is heartening to know that tropical forests are around to fill the gap.

Decrease in carbon sinks like forests, is one of causes of increasing temperatures as part of a larger phenomenon called Global Warming. While increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere can lead to faster growth of forests, it can also cause water scarcity as green cover thrives on water. There is also added risk of forest fires, researchers said.