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" A lot of finger pointing has been directed lately at one of the most enduring symbols of environmental friendliness: leafy green vegetation. In recent studies, scientists have found that northern forests can actually contribute to the greenhouse effect by absorbing more sunlight than surrounding areas, and that terrestrial plants may produce the powerful greenhouse gas methane under normal aerobic conditions (as opposed to in oxygen-free environments, such as swamps).  After extended media coverage misinterpreted the latter study, the Max-Planck Institute, which generated the research, released a clarification. Plants are not, in fact, responsible for global warming, as their methane emissions have been naturally occurring since well before the significant increase in atmospheric methane was first documented. Greenhouses gases emitted by manmade landfills and fossil fuels are still to blame for rising temperatures. Also, they say, don&amp;#039;t discount reforestation just yet. The small offset in benefits created by methane emissions is greatly outweighed by the amount of carbon sequestered. \u2014Tyghe Trimble "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/green-tech/a428/2226797/>