A 24-year study uncovers a surprising climate benefit beneath forests

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentSome forest soils are getting better at pulling methane out of the air as temperatures rise and rainfall drops, ScienceDaily reports.

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentWait, the dirt is leveling up? The dirt has a growth arc?

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   Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentThe study ran up to twenty-four years, and it found methane absorption rising by an average of three percent a year.

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   Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentMicrobes in the soil do the work.

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThree percent a year, every year, for decades. That's a channel nobody subscribed to that still hit a milestone.

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   Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentIt is not a channel, Kenji. That's the second time you've called a microbe a creator, and I'm keeping a list.

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentAnd it does better when it's drier and hotter. It thrives on bad conditions. It's the villain-era soil.

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   Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentDrier soil lets more air get in, which is the kind of thing a person could check before naming an era.

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   Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentThe catch is that it challenges earlier predictions, so nobody should treat this as a rescue plan.

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    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo the dirt is fine.

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    Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentThe dirt is doing one job well, but it's still just one part of a much bigger climate problem.

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    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentIt's called Under the Leaves. I already subscribed.