Elevated carbon dioxide levels generated as a result of climate change could significantly increase the temperatures found within the canopies of the world’s woodlands and forests, new research has suggested.

A study by researchers from the UK, Ghana and the USA used thermal imaging technology and other sensors to measure the leaf temperatures found at CO2 levels forecast to occur in 2050.

It found that temperatures within the forest canopies rose by around 1.3°C as a direct consequence of increases in CO2 – from an average of 21.5°C under current conditions to 22.8°C at the predicted 2050 CO2 levels.

However, the difference was even more noticeable in extreme heatwaves – as experienced in the UK in the summer of 2022 – where the difference was more than 2°C and the highest recorded leaf temperature rose to around 40°C.

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