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Kyoto Protocol, 

5.2% below 1990 levels by December, 2008.

methane

David Lowe, of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand, 

Keppler


The scientists said their finding is important for understanding the link between global warming and a rise in greenhouse gases. It could also have implications for the Kyoto Protocol, which calls for developed countries to cut their emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2% below 1990 levels by December, 2008. 　　It was discovered that living plants emit 10 to 100 times more methane than dead plants. Scientists had previously thought that plants could only emit methane in the absence of oxygen. 　　David Lowe, of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand, thinks the findings are startling and controversial. According to David Lowe, Keppler and colleagues' finding helps to account for observations from space of incredibly large plumes of methane above tropical forests. But the study also poses questions, such as how such a potentially large source of methane could have been overlooked and how plants produced it. There will be a lively scramble among researchers for the answers to these and other questions.
科学家说他们的这一发现对了解全球变暖与温室气体增加之间的关系非常重要。另外，此发现还对《京都协议》意义深远，该协议号召发达国家在2008年12月之前使温室气体的排放量减少5.2%，从而低于1990年的水平。 　　科普勒博士和他的同事们发现，活着的植物所排放的甲烷量是死去植物的10—100倍，而科学家们先前则认为植物只有在缺氧时才能释放出甲烷。 　　新西兰国家水利气象研究所的大卫·罗依认为，科普勒和同事们的发现令人吃惊而且会引发很多争议。他说，这一发现可以帮助解释一种现象：从空中观察热带森林的上方，人们会发现大量甲烷——多得令人难以置信，但此研究也提出了诸如为何如此大量的甲烷竟被忽视以及植物是怎样产生甲烷的之类的问题。研究者们会竞相对这些问题给予答案。