Ants could save the world from climate change, Yahoo News reports, based on an article published in the July issue of the journal Geology. Arizona State University geologist Ronald Dorn found that when ants “weather” minerals to make limestone, the process takes a tiny amount of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. “The findings don’t reveal how much atmospheric carbon might be missing thanks to ants,” Oskin writes. But “Dorn said he thinks the sheer biological mass of ants working in concert could have removed significant quantities…since the insects expanded their numbers starting 65 million years ago.” Dorn himself isn’t sure how close he is to a climate solution: “We’re very, very early in the game,” he said. (h/t to Environmental News Bits for pointing us to this story)
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