Australia experts look to climate `time machine`
Baku, June 12 (AZERTAC). An ecological time machine has been set up that Australian scientists hope will provide an unprecedented glimpse into the impact of climate change.
hHalf a dozen giant steel frames nine storeys high tower over native bushland as part of one of the world`s most complex experiments looking at the influence of rising levels of carbon dioxide.
The project, near the town of Richmond northwest of Sydney, will mimic future climatic conditions by imposing higher levels of CO2 on an entire ecosystem, from fungi and soil bacteria to the trees and insects that live in them.
Scientists say the research will give governments more information about how to plan for environmental challenges that could lie ahead.
"We have six of these arrays of pipes up in the woodland designed to emit carbon dioxide in a computer-controlled system so we can study how this ecosystem responds in a rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration," explained Professor David Ellsworth of the University of Western Sydney.
The CO2 is vaporized in large tanks and pumped by large fans high into the forest from perforated fibreglass piping.
The experiment, which has taken researchers a year to construct, will last for a decade.
Academics say it is the world`s biggest outdoor carbon dioxide trial and the only one to use mature woodland.
"We`re hoping to find out how this ecosystem actually responds to carbon dioxide concentration of the future, and whether it will actually store more carbon or not," Prof Ellsworth added.
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