As climate change warms the California region during the summer as a result of the greenhouse gas effect, forest fires have become more frequent with each passing year. If atmospheric carbon dioxide could be reduced, so could the rate at which global warming occurs. Fertilizers rich in nitrogen and phosphorous could be used to keep plants more hearty, but they present the risk of algal blooms. If a non-nitrogenous fertilizer was implemented to ensure plants grew with adventitious root systems to harness a great amount of carbon dioxide and retain moisture, the effect of wildfire spread on California’s forests would be diminished significantly.

Full Poster: Carbon Reduction Through Plant Modification