Plants emit greenhouse gas methane

During a precise comparative investigation of gases produced by dead and fresh leaves, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg (now at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz) discovered, that methane is produced not only in the absence of oxygen - in swamps, rice fields, and animals' digestive tracts - but also by living plants. Now botanists and climatologists have to reconsider the interaction between the atmosphere and the biosphere. For example, to what degree do plants really counterbalance the greenhouse effect? And: How must climate models be re-calibrated?