Feds nix NC forest experiments; scientists upset

DURHAM — For more than a decade, the federal government has spent millions of dollars pumping elevated levels of carbon dioxide into small groups of trees. Scientists believe the
tests would show how forests will respond to global warming in the next 50 years.

Some scientists think they are on the cusp of receiving key results from the time-consuming experiments.

But the U.S. Department of Energy, which is funding the project, has told the scientists to chop down the trees, collect the data and move on to new research.

That plan has upset some researchers who have spent years trying to understand how forests may help stave off global warming. They want to keep the project going for at least a couple of more years.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)