Climate Change Surprise: Trees Remove Methane From the Air

New research reveals that tree bark microbes absorb significant amounts of methane, increasing the climate benefit of trees by about 10%. This finding underscores the importance of trees in mitigating climate change and supports tree planting and forest conservation as key strategies in global methane reduction efforts.

According to a study published in Nature, tree bark surfaces play an important role in removing methane gas from the atmosphere.

While trees have long been known to benefit climate by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, this new research reveals a surprising additional climate benefit. Microbes hidden within tree bark can absorb methane – a powerful greenhouse gas – from the atmosphere.

An international team of researchers led by the University of Birmingham has shown for the first time that microbes living in the bark or in the wood itself are removing atmospheric methane on a scale equal to or above that of soil. They calculate that this newly discovered process makes trees 10 percent more beneficial for climate overall than previously thought.