Australia experts look to climate ‘time machine’

Australian scientists have constructed an ecological time machine to mimic future climate conditions by subjecting an entire ecosystem to higher levels of CO2.  It is the world’s largest outdoor CO2 trial and the only one using mature woodland.  The machine consists of six arrays of steel frames nine stories high designed to emit CO2 in a computer-controlled environment.  The scientists will then observe how the ecosystem responds to the rising atmospheric CO2 concentration.  This groundbreaking experiment has taken researchers a year to design and is intended last for a full decade.  The scientists believe that this research will give governments more information about how to plan for future challenges related to climate change and help transform climate change research in Australia, which has one of the highest per capita GHG emissions rates in the developed world.

Gary Monitz