As temperatures warm, plants release gases that help form
clouds and cool the atmosphere, according to research from IIASA and the
University of Helsinki.
The new study, published in Nature Geoscience, identified a
negative feedback loop in which higher temperatures lead to an increase in
concentrations of natural aerosols that have a cooling effect on the
atmosphere.
“Plants, by reacting to changes in temperature, also
moderate these changes,” says IIASA and University of Helsinki researcher Pauli
Paasonen, who led the study.