Contrary to previous estimates, a team of researchers including Christopher Junium, associate professor of Earth and environmental sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences, have found geochemical evidence suggesting that CO2 levels may have been much lower millions of years before the emergence of large forests, according to a study published in Nature Communications. Junium and his collaborators, including the study’s lead author Tais W. Dahl, associate professor from the Globe Institute at the University of Copenhagen, found that the earliest vascular plants substantially reduced CO2 levels long before the evolution of forests. This early CO2 decline may have led to significant global cooling and glaciation during this period. Read more.