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JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) - Researchers studying plants and trees near Yellowstone National Park's thermal vents hope to glean an indication of how rising carbon dioxide emissions could affect vegetation worldwide a century from now. Plants near the vents are exposed to nearly twice as much carbon dioxide as is normal.
But if carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and cars keep increasing at current rates, the amount of carbon dioxide at the vents now will become the worldwide norm in 100 years.
University of Wyoming researchers Shikha Sharma and David Williams sampled leaves from lodgepole pines, Yellowstone's dominant tree species, and Dalmatian toadflax, an invasive species, to see how increased carbon levels affect their growth and metabolism.
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