Just A Herd?Of 170 Bison Could Offset CO2 Emissions From 43,000 Cars, Say Scientists

Climate Change is one of the most pressing issues the world is facing today and scientists around the globe are working day and night to find solutions and save our planet from annihilation. New research has suggested that there could be an easier, much more effective way to offset carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles.

Bison to help fight climate change

Scientists have claimed that A herd of 170 bison reintroduced to Romania¡¯s ?arcu mountains could help store CO2 emissions equivalent to removing 43,000 US cars from the road for a year.

AFP

According to a report in The Guardian, scientists at the Yale School of the Environment used a new model to calculate the additional amount of atmospheric CO2 that wildlife species help to capture and store in soils through their interactions within ecosystems.

Also read: World's Largest Carbon Capture System Will Suck 4000 Tonnes Of CO2 Per Year

Bison herd increased carbon capture

They compared data from the wider ?arcu mountains in Romania where a European bison herd was reintroduced and is grazing in an area of nearly 50 sq km of grasslands. The study found that the bison herd potentially captures an additional 54,000 tonnes of carbon a year. That is nearly 9.8 times more carbon than without the bison. This corresponds to the yearly CO2 released by a median of 43,000 average US petrol cars, or 84,000 using the higher figure, or a median of 123,000 average European cars, due to their higher energy efficiency, the researchers said.

REWILDING EUROPE

¡°Bison influence grassland and forest ecosystems by grazing grasslands evenly, recycling nutrients to fertilise the soil and all of its life, dispersing seeds to enrich the ecosystem, and compacting the soil to prevent stored carbon from being released," Prof Oswald Schmitz of the Yale School of the Environment in Connecticut in the US, who was the lead author of the report, said.

Also read: Hunters Group Open Fire At Endangered Bison, Animal Gores One To Death

REWILDING EUROPE

European bison reintroduction in Romania

The European bison went extinct in the wild in Romania more than 200 years ago, but Rewilding Europe and WWF Romania reintroduced the species to the southern Carpathian mountains in 2014. Currently, there are 170 European bison in the ?arcu mountains, which scientists say can hold a population of 350-450.

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