With so many concerns arising with regard to global warming it is important to understand how we can reduce our carbon foot prints.

Global warming is caused by greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which creates a blanket around the earth that traps the heat from the sun within the earth rather than reflect it back to space.

Can trees absorb the carbon emissions and reduce the effects of global warming? Trees have the ability to absorb the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and release oxygen which will reduce the greenhouse effect, causing global warming.

But new research shows that the process of global warming may affect the trees ability to store carbon. Research over a period of seven years was carried out in Massachusetts where the temperature of a part of a forest soil was artificially elevated by 9 degrees Fahrenheit without altering the greenhouse emissions, showed that the rising temperature caused the trees to decompose faster and that this process released more carbon dioxide to the environment.

The research also showed that though trees decomposed faster, there was a significant increase in the rate of growth of trees due to the increased nitrogen in the soil caused by the increased temperature.