Now this is bad science ...
"“When Dr Dan Nepstead started the experiment in 2002 – by covering a chunk of rainforest the size of a football pitch with plastic panels to see how it would cope without rain – he surrounded it with sophisticated sensors, expecting to record only minor changes,” The Independent reports.
“The trees managed the first year of drought without difficulty. In the second year, they sunk their roots deeper to find moisture, but survived. But in year three, they started dying. Beginning with the tallest the trees started to come crashing down, exposing the forest floor to the drying sun.
By the end of the year the trees had released more than two-thirds of the carbon dioxide they have stored during their lives, helping to act as a break on global warming. Instead they began accelerating the climate change.”
Hey yahoo "scientist", cover up your entire lawn with plastic garbage bags and prevent any moisture from entering for 3 years....hmmm...do you think anything will die? BONEHEAD!
It might just be bad reporting. Hard call to make in the circumstance. The experiement may have been legitimate and the reporter an idiot at explaining it.