THREE RIVERS – (INT) – Trees can actually counter-balance the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere people generate.

That’s one finding by an international team of researchers that examined hundreds of thousands of trees around the world.

Trees do not slow in their growth rate as they get older and larger — instead, their growth keeps accelerating, pulling more carbon dioxide out of the air.

Nate Stephenson, the study's lead author and a forest ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Three Rivers, California, was asked about specific species of trees.

“We didn’t identify those. There were various reasons for that. That might be the next step of ours.”

There are several Tree Cities in California including Claremont, Anaheim, Burbank, Beverly Hills and Los Angeles.

Story Date: January 23, 2014