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NASA Study Looks At Tree Growth In A Warming World

FROSTBURG, Md. (AP) -- A western Maryland laboratory is getting a NASA grant to study whether global warming is causing trees to grow faster.

The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science said Monday that NASA awarded more than $650,000 to two scientists at the school's Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg.

Previous studies have shown that the growing season is getting longer. But it's unclear whether trees are growing faster.

If they are, Associate Professor Andrew Elmore says that means they're using more carbon dioxide and cleaning the air faster.

Elmore and Assistant Professor David Nelson will study satellite pictures of eastern U.S. forests and data collected from airplanes and on the ground.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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