F6: Math Mishap A Win For Environment
Normally math mistakes are a bad thing, and they result in terrible news…planes crash, bridges collapse, and backyard warriors measure and cut one too few fence posts. This is a case of a mathematics error that turns out to be fantastic news, a mistake found by environmental scientists at Cornell University. What they found will lead much more accurate forecasts of the warming of our planet…and it turns out, it’s better news than we could have imagined.
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F6: MATH MISHAP A WIN FOR ENVIRONMENT
WHEN WE WERE ALL IN SCHOOL, THERE WASN’T USUALLY A BENEFIT TO MAKING MISTAKES IN MATH. AND RIGHTLY SO…MATH MISTAKES TEND TO CAUSE AIRPLANES TO CRASH, BRIDGES TO COLLAPSE, AND FOR HOMEOWNERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, IT CAUSES THEM TO CUT ONE TOO FEW FENCE POSTS.
HOWEVER, HERE’S AN INSTANCE WHEN MATH MISTAKES TURN OUT FOR THE BETTER. EARLIER THIS YEAR, AN ERROR IN A FORMULA THAT WAS WRITTEN IN THE 1980S, WAS DISCOVERED BY A TEAM OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTISTS AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY….AND IT’S A MISTAKE THAT’S MAKING OUR FUTURE LOOK…A LITTLE BIT BRIGHTER.
EPISODE
THERE ARE TEAMS OF SCIENTISTS ALL OVER THE WORLD INVOLVED WITH ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING…AND ONE OF THE THINGS THEY DO IS ENTER DATA INTO FORMULAS TO TRACK THE AMOUT OF HUMAN-GENERATED CARBON DIOXIDE FROM POLLUTION THAT IS NATURALLY REMOVED FROM THE ENVIRONMENT BY PLANTS. IT’S WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING WHEN THEY DESCRIBE THE RAIN FOREST AS THE EARTH’S LUNGS.
TO REFRESH YOUR MEMORY, THE LEAVES OF PLANTS HAVE LITTLE FACTORIES INSIDE THE PLANT CELLS CALLED CHLOROPLASTS AND THEY CARRY OUT PHOTOSYNTHESIS, WHICH TAKES THE WATER AND CARBON DIOXIDE FROM THE AIR AND CONVERTS IT INTO GLUCOSE AND OXYGEN WHICH THEN FEEDS THE PLANTS. SINCE WE KEEP ADDING CARBON DIOXIDE TO OUR ATMOSPHERE BY BURNING SO MANY FOSSIL FUELS, THE MORE PLANTS WE HAVE TO NATURALLY FILTER IT, THE BETTER IT IS FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT.
SO THESE SCIENTISTS HAVE LONG RELIED ON FORMULAS THAT WERE DEVELOPED FORTY YEARS AGO TO BE ACCURATE AT CALCULATING JUST HOW EFFICIENTLY PLANTS NATURALLY REMOVE CARBON DIOXIDE. THIS HELPS THEM FORECAST, AMONG OTHER THINGS, HOW QUICKLY OUR PLANET WILL BE WARMING YEARS FROM NOW.
UNFORTUNATELY, ACCORDING TO THE MODELS, THE AMOUNT OF CO2 REMOVED FROM THE ENVIRONMENT FROM PLANTS, KNOWN AS TERRESTRIAL GROSS PRIMARY PRODUCTION, OR GPP, ISN’T NEARLY ENOUGH FOR HOW MUCH CARBON DIOXIDE WE’RE GENERATING. WE ARE WAY BEHIND AND IT’S GETTING WORSE.
FOR THE LAST FORTY YEARS, WE HAVE ASSUMED THAT THE MODELS WERE CORRECT.
WELL…. THEY AREN’T, AND THAT MISTAKE IS GREAT NEWS FOR OUR PLANET.
AS IT TURNS OUT, RESEARCHERS AND SCIENTISTS AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY HAVE FOUND THAT PLANTS ARE 31% MORE EFFICIENT AT ABSORBING C02 THAN WE HAD ORGINALLY THOUGHT.
THEY KEY TO THE NEW DISCOVERY WAS THE FINE-TUNING OF THE FORMULAS FOR SOMETHING CALLED MESOPHYLL DIFFUSION – IN PLAIN LANGUAGE, MESOPHYLL DIFFUSION IS HOW WELL POLLUTANTS MOVE FROM LEAVES INTO THE CHLOROPLASTS WHERE THE MAGIC CAN HAPPEN. IT’S PROBABLY LESS ACCURATE TO CALL IT A MATH ERROR, AND MORE ACCURATE TO SAY THAT SCIENTISTS HAVE PROVEN THAT THE PLANTS ARE SIMPLY MORE EFFICIENT THAT WE HAD ORIGINALLY MEASURED.
NOW SCIENTISTS ARE ABLE TO GO BACK INTO THE LARGER MODELS, WHERE THE CARBON CYCLE IS REPRESENTED FOR OUR PLANET, AND RE-RUN THEM TO REPRESENT MORE ACCURATELY WHAT WILL BE HAPPENING ON THE GROUND.
THIS DISCOVERY DOESN’T CHANGE THE AMOUNT OF CARBON CURRENTLY MEASURED IN THE ATMOSPHERE (WHICH WE KNOW TO BE VERY HIGH), BUT IT DOES GIVE US BETTER NEWS ABOUT OUR PROJECTIONS, AND IT WILL INFORM THE DECISIONS WE MAKE GOING FORWARD. FOR INSTANCE, THIS NEWS WILL LEAD US TO PUT EVEN MORE EMPHASIS ON PRESERVING OUR RAIN FORESTS AND INCREASING OUR GREEN ZONES.
AND RAINFOREST PRESERVATION IS JUST STARTING TO HEAD IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. IN FACT, JUST LAST YEAR, A CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL DEFORESTATION IN THE AMAZON BY THE GOVERNMENT OF BRAZIL, MARKED A 50% DECREASE IN DEFORESTATION IN THE ALL-IMPORTANT RAINFOREST IN 2023. COLUMBIA HAS MADE SIMILAR HEADWAY. THIS NEW INFORMATION WILL ALLOW GOVERNMENTS TO DOUBLE DOWN ON EFFORTS TO BETTER PROTECT THESE PLANT-DENSE REGIONS.
I KNOW WHAT MANY OF YOU ARE THINKING. WE SHOULDN’T CELEBRATE – OUR PLANET IS WARMING TOO QUICKLY AND THIS POSITIVE NEWS MIGHT CAUSE GOVERNMENTS TO TAKE THEIR FOOT OFF THE GAS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE.
I DON’T SEE IT THAT WAY. I THINK WE TAKE THE WIN AND WE ENJOY IT - IT ALLOWS US TO HAVE MORE OPTIMISM THAT WE CAN REVERSE WHAT’S HAPPENING.
THIS CRITICAL MISCALCULATION WAS SOMETHING THAT IMPACTS HOW WELL WE FORECAST AND PRIORITIZE DECISIONS FOR OUR FUTURE EXISTENCE ON EARTH…. SO, I’LL SAY, FROM THE MATHLETES ALL THE WAY ON DOWN TO THOSE WHO NEED A CALCULATOR TO ADD SINGLE DIGITS…WE KNOW MATH MISTAKES HAPPEN, BUT LET’S DOUBLE CHECK OUR WORK NEXT TIME.
REGARDLESS, THIS NEWS IS NOT ONLY GREAT FOR OUR PLANET, BUT IT’S ALSO GREAT FOR US TO HEAR. MEDIA COMPANIES OPERATE ON THE POLICY THAT BAD NEWS IS GOOD BUSINESS, SO IT’S GREAT WHEN SOME POSITIVE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS SLIPS THROUGH THE CRACKS…AND I’LL GLADLY TAKE IT….IT SHOULD ALLOW US….ONE MORE REASON TO FEEL A LITTLE BIT BETTER ABOUT THE FUTURE…
https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-were-wrong-plants-absorb-31-more-co2-than-previously-thought/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/10/241021145729.htm